French, Malian troops enter Diabaly
2013-01-21 15:20
Niono - French and Malian troops entered the central
frontline town of Diabaly on Monday as they pushed north in their bid to flush
out fanatical al-Qaeda-linked rebels who have threatened reprisal attacks.
A convoy of about 30 armoured vehicles transporting at least
300 Malian and French troops moved into the town early on Monday morning
without meeting any resistance, an AFP journalist said.
The town, 400km from the capital Bamako, has been the
theatre of air strikes and fighting since it was seized by Islamists a week
ago.
A colonel in the Malian army had said earlier that a
"fringe of the Diabaly population adheres to the jihadists' theories and
we must be very careful in the coming hours".
French television footage from Diabaly has shown charred
pick-up trucks abandoned by the Islamists amid mud brick homes.
One resident said the rebels had fled the town which was
abandoned by many of its residents, and those remaining lacked food and other
essentials.
As French troops began a deployment towards the
Islamist-held north, moving into the strategic central towns of Niono and
Sevare on Sunday, Paris said the aim of the 11-day old military offensive was
total victory over the Islamists.
"The goal is the total reconquest of Mali," French
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in televised remarks. "We will
not leave any pockets" of resistance.
The death toll
France swept to the aid of the crippled and weak Malian army
on 11 January, a day after the hardline Islamists who have occupied the
country's vast north since April 2012 made a push south towards Bamako.
In retaliation, a jihadist group run by a former leader of
the regional al-Qaeda franchise Mokhtar Belmokhtar, attacked a gas plant in
neighbouring Algeria.
A 72-hour stand-off at the complex ended in scores of deaths
on Saturday.
Officials have warned that the death toll from the bloody
rescue operation could rise.
"I fear that it [the death toll] may be revised
upward," Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said told a radio
station, as details slowly emerged over the hostages who had died.
On Sunday, the assailants, calling themselves
"Signatories in Blood", vowed "more operations in all the
countries which have taken part in the crusade" against northern Mali, if
it did not halt immediately.
The Islamists in Mali, who have proved a well-armed and
formidable foe, were reported Sunday to be abandoning some of their positions
and converging on the mountainous region of Kidal, their northernmost bastion,
1 500km from Bamako and near the border with Algeria.
Kidal was the first town seized by an amalgam of Islamist
militants and Tuareg separatist groups in March last year. The two sides then
had a falling out and the Islamists have since gained the upper hand in the
desert north.
Meanwhile the planned deployment of nearly 6 000 African
soldiers continued slowly into Bamako, hampered by cash and logistical
constraints. Only 150 African troops had arrived by Sunday.
Senegal, Benin and six other west African nations are
contributing to the African mission which is expected to take over the baton
from France, and Chad has also pledged 2 000 soldiers.
Key frontline outposts
The head of the Commission of regional west African bloc Ecowas,
Desire Kadre Ouedraogo, estimated the cost of an African offensive against the
armed Islamist groups at about $500m.
The European Union has pledged €50m to the International
Support Mission for Mali (MISMA).
On the ground in Mali, French troops said they were
buttressing their positions.
"The deployment towards the north... which began 24
hours ago, is on course with troops inside the towns of Niono and Sevare,"
Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Dosseur told reporters, referring to key frontline
outposts.
Niono is about 350km northeast of the Malian capital and
60km south of Diabaly.
Sevare has a strategically important airport about 630km northeast
of Bamako that could help serve as a base for operations further north.
The western region is home to what are considered the most
martial and fanatical Islamists.
- SAPA
