France strikes new Mali town, boosts troop numbers
16 Jan 2013 6:48 AM IST
French warplanes hit a town newly-seized by Islamists in Mali as African troops on Tuesday prepared to join the offensive which has sent the jihadists fleeing from their northern strongholds.
France on Monday secured UN backing for its campaign launched four days earlier to halt a southward advance on the capital Bamako by Islamist fighters who have controlled northern Mali since April.
A contingent of 750 French troops has been sent to bolster Malian forces against the well-armed rebels. Defence sources say the force will eventually rise to 2,500.
Since the French air offensive was launched on Friday, the Islamists have fled three key towns under their control: Timbuktu, where residents have suffered some of worst abuses of the past 10 months, as well as Gao, also in the north, and Douentza in Mali’s centre.
Though driven from their strongholds by French Rafale fighter jets, the Islamists struck back Monday in the government-held south, capturing the small town of Diabaly some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Bamako.
French planes hit Diabaly overnight, according to a security source who told AFP at least five Islamists were killed and many injured. A resident of a town some 20 kilometres from Diabaly told AFP he had seen armed Islamists fleeing after the strikes.
President Francois Hollande, speaking from the French military base in Abu Dhabi, said the night’s strikes had ‘achieved their goal’.
France and other UN Security Council countries want to speed up the deployment of a UN-mandated 3,300-strong west African intervention force in Mali, held up by disagreements among its contributors.
West African army chiefs will meet in Bamako today to plan the deployment. Nigeria, which will lead the force, plans to have 600 troops on the ground in Mali ‘before next week,’ President Goodluck Jonathan said.
‘US TO AID FOREIGN AGRESSORS IN MALI’
American troops are determined to go to any nook and corner of the earth to destroy al-Qaeda, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said, asserting that Washington was considering providing logistic, surveillance and airlift assistance to French battling militants in Mali.
Claiming that the beleaguered outfit had expanded its base from Af-Pak region to other parts of the world, in particular North Africa, Panetta said it continues to pose a security threat to the US.
France on Monday secured UN backing for its campaign launched four days earlier to halt a southward advance on the capital Bamako by Islamist fighters who have controlled northern Mali since April.
A contingent of 750 French troops has been sent to bolster Malian forces against the well-armed rebels. Defence sources say the force will eventually rise to 2,500.
Since the French air offensive was launched on Friday, the Islamists have fled three key towns under their control: Timbuktu, where residents have suffered some of worst abuses of the past 10 months, as well as Gao, also in the north, and Douentza in Mali’s centre.
Though driven from their strongholds by French Rafale fighter jets, the Islamists struck back Monday in the government-held south, capturing the small town of Diabaly some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Bamako.
French planes hit Diabaly overnight, according to a security source who told AFP at least five Islamists were killed and many injured. A resident of a town some 20 kilometres from Diabaly told AFP he had seen armed Islamists fleeing after the strikes.
President Francois Hollande, speaking from the French military base in Abu Dhabi, said the night’s strikes had ‘achieved their goal’.
France and other UN Security Council countries want to speed up the deployment of a UN-mandated 3,300-strong west African intervention force in Mali, held up by disagreements among its contributors.
West African army chiefs will meet in Bamako today to plan the deployment. Nigeria, which will lead the force, plans to have 600 troops on the ground in Mali ‘before next week,’ President Goodluck Jonathan said.
‘US TO AID FOREIGN AGRESSORS IN MALI’
American troops are determined to go to any nook and corner of the earth to destroy al-Qaeda, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said, asserting that Washington was considering providing logistic, surveillance and airlift assistance to French battling militants in Mali.
Claiming that the beleaguered outfit had expanded its base from Af-Pak region to other parts of the world, in particular North Africa, Panetta said it continues to pose a security threat to the US.
Next Story
