French, Malian forces retake town
Bamako/Markala, Mali – French and Malian soldiers wrested control of the central town of Diabaly from Islamist rebels today, its mayor said, as West African reinforcements arrived to take on the insurgents dominating northern Mali.
France, which says Islamist control over Mali’s vast desert north threatens the security of Africa and the West, had targeted Diabaly in an eighth day of air strikes aimed at dislodging hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters there.
‘‘Soldiers are in the town carrying out mopping-up operations,’’ Diabaly Mayor Oumar Diakite said. ‘‘There are lots of burned-out vehicles that the Islamists tried to hide in the orchards.’’
A commander in the Malian army in nearby Markala said ground forces were operating in Diabaly, about 360 kilometres northeast of the capital, Bamako, but could not confirm that the town, seized by Islamists on Tuesday, had been recaptured.
If officially confirmed, it would be a second military success for the French-led military alliance. The Islamists yesterday abandoned Konna, to the north of the central garrison town of Sevare.
Armed with weapons seized from Libya after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the Islamist alliance of al Qaeda’s North African wing AQIM and homegrown Malian groups Ansar Dine and MUJWA has put up staunch resistance.
The progress of French and Malian troops had been slowed because the insurgents had taken refuge in the homes of civilians, residents said.
French President Francois Hollande ordered the intervention on the grounds that the Islamists could turn northern Mali into a ‘‘terrorist state’’ radiating threats beyond its borders.
France, which now has 1800 troops in Mali, has pledged to keep them there until stability returns to the poor, landlocked West African nation.
A total of 2500 French troops are expected in Mali, but Paris is keen to swiftly hand the mission over to West Africa’s Ecowas bloc, which in December secured a United Nations mandate for a 3300-strong mission to help Mali recapture the north. The first contingents of Togolese and Nigerian troops arrived in Bamako yesterday.
Nigerian and Chadian forces are massing in Niger, Mali’s neighbour to the east.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Mali was a threat to the whole region. ‘‘The crisis in Mali, if not brought under control, may spill over to Nigeria and other West African countries, with negative consequences on our collective security, political stability and development efforts.’’
The scrambling of the UNmandated African mission, which had not been due for deployment until September, will hearten France, the former colonial power in Mali. African states have now pledged more than 5000 troops.
Germany has promised two military transport aircraft to help fly in the soldiers. Britain has supplied two military transport planes to fly in French armoured vehicles and medical supplies. The United States is considering logistical and surveillance support but has ruled out dispatching US troops.
Mali’s recent woes began with a coup in Bamako last March, after two decades of stable democracy. In the ensuing chaos, Islamist forces seized large swathes of the north and imposed a severe rule reminiscent of Afghanistan under the Taliban.
The UN refugee agency said refugees from Mali had given horrific accounts of amputations and executions, as well as the recruitment of child soldiers.