Five Malian soldiers die in chopper crash

BAMAKO, April 13, (Agencies): Five Malian soldiers died Friday when their helicopter crashed in the centre of the war-torn west African nation, local government and army sources told AFP.

“The crash of a Malian army helicopter killed all five passengers, Malian soldiers. This happened near Sevare. The Malian army is in mourning,” a local official from the Mopti regional administration told AFP.

A Malian military source confirmed the incident, saying a colonel was among the five dead and the cause was mechanical failure. An African military official on the scene told AFP by telephone the helicopter had “partially caught fire”.

“It happened 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Sevare. The helicopter was en route to the north. All the soldiers on board were killed in the acci- dent. Yesterday, the same aircraft could not take off because of bad weather,” the source added.

The town of Sevare is home to the only hard-topped landing strip in central Mali, used for moving military aircraft and troops involved in a French-led offensive to oust armed Islamists from northern Mali.

French and African troops launched the mission in January, driving militants from the major cities of the north which they occupied for several months last year.

Meanwhile, Mali’s prime minister promised during a visit to the war-torn north on Thursday elections would go ahead in July despite fears his government is failing to reassert its control there after the ousting of Islamist rebels.

Diango Sissoko’s visit to Gao was the first by a senior government figure since a French-led campaign freed northern Mali’s largest town from al-Qaeda-linked rebels in January.

Some 4,000 French troops, fighting alongside Mali’s army and a regional African force AFISMA, have pushed the Islamists back into desert and mountain hideaways.

With France aiming to cut its military presence to 1,000 soldiers by year-end, the first 120 arrived back in France on Thursday.

Paris is pushing for presidential and legislative elections in three months. Mali has been mired in turmoil for a year, rocked by a Tuareg rebellion, an occupation of the north of the country by Islamic militants and a military coup.

“There is no question over the holding of elections in July. All the necessary steps are being and will be taken,” Sissoko, part of a transitional government, told reporters in Gao.