French troops help drive back Mali rebels
2013-01-12 23:06
Bamako - Mali's army took back a key town from Islamist
rebels on Saturday aided by French air power, opening a dramatic new phase in
the conflict that France's leader declared is a battle against terrorism.
International momentum to wrest northern Mali back from the
control of al-Qaeda-linked groups built after the French air raids helped
reclaim the front-line town of Konna, with Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal each
pledging 500 troops to an African force tasked with regaining the north.
France's President Francois Hollande declared
"Operation Serval" a success, saying French air power - deployed on
Friday to stop the rebel onslaught - had "served to halt our
adversaries," and that the intervention had "only one goal which is
the fight against terrorism".
"Our foes have suffered heavy losses," he said.
The battle left dozens of dead rebels strewn across the
area, according to witnesses and the Malian military.
France's forces suffered one casualty, a pilot killed
carrying out air raids, said French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Intervention
Hollande, who has struggled on the domestic front and seen
his popularity hit record lows, said French forces would remain involved as
long as necessary.
He sent the UN Security Council a letter asking to speed up
plans to send a 3 300-strong African force into Mali.
Hollande also said that following the intervention he had
ordered tightened security at home, saying France "has to take all
necessary precautions" in the face of a terrorist threat.
The collapse of a nation formerly seen as a democratic
success story in the region has sparked fears that northern Mali could become a
launchpad for global terrorist attacks.
The Malian army said it was in full control of Konna after
spending much of Saturday flushing out the last pockets of resistance following
the battle, one of the worst clashes since the start of the crisis and the most
significant setback inflicted on the Islamists.
Insurgents seized the town - which is some 700km northeast
of Bamako - on Thursday, threatening to advance on the capital.
Support
US officials said Washington might support France's sudden
military intervention.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he welcomed the
"military assistance France has provided to the Malian Government, at
their request", and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
praised the "courageous action by French troops".
But Russia's Africa envoy, Mikhail Margelov, lashed out at
the French move.
"African residents aside, no one else can or should
solve the continent's problems," Margelov said.
Around 60 Islamists including women in veils protested
outside the French embassy in London against the intervention, holding placards
that read "French army, you will pay" and "Sharia is the only
solution for Mali".
Malian residents however thanked France for its support.
"The French really saved us," said
thirty-something Moussa Toure in Bamako - a remark echoed by others, including
Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore.
France also said it had deployed troops in the capital to
protect the former colonial ruler's 6 000-strong expatriate community.
The capital has remained under government control throughout
the crisis, which erupted in the wake of a March 22 coup that ousted
democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Toure, creating a power vacuum
that allowed the Islamists to seize the vast desert north.
Since seizing the territory, about the size of France, the
Islamists have destroyed centuries-old Muslim mausoleums they see as heretical
and imposed an extreme form of Islamic law in the main towns, flogging,
amputating and sometimes executing accused transgressors.
Regional troops
Mali's armed forces had been in disarray since the coup and
seemed powerless against a rebellion of seasoned fighters, but France's shock
intervention tipped the power balance.
"The helicopters struck the insurgents' vehicles, which
dispersed," a Malian military source said.
In the wake of the battle, West African nations sped up
preparations to send troops to join the fight against the Islamists.
Ivory Coast's African Integration Minister Ally Coulibaly
said the mission was being rapidly pushed forward and that the first troops
could arrive as early as Sunday.
An unclear number of West African military personnel were
already on the ground in Mali.
The UN Security Council has approved a 3 300-strong African
force to help Mali defeat the rebels, but it had not been expected to deploy
before September.
Mali's interim administration however warned it could not
afford to wait months for a game-changer.
With the situation evolving rapidly, the 15-nation Economic
Community of West African States (Ecowas) announced late on Friday it had
authorised the immediate deployment of troops.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki meanwhile said his
country was becoming a corridor to deliver arms once used to fight former
Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi's regime to Islamists in Mali.
"The situation in Mali has always worried us because we
have begun to understand that our 'jihadists', quote unquote, have ties with
these terrorist forces," Marzouki said.
His comments came as the premiers of Algeria, Libya and
Tunisia sealed a pact to secure their borders against arms trafficking.
