Mali: French widen bombing campaign
2013-01-14 16:31
Bamako - French military forces on Monday widened their
bombing campaign against Islamic extremists occupying northern Mali, launching
airstrikes for the first time in central Mali to combat a new threat as the
four-day-old offensive continued to grow.
Early on Monday, an intelligence agent confirmed that shots
rang out near the Diabaly military camp in what is still nominally
government-held territory and that soon after, jets were overhead, followed by
explosions. The agent insisted on anonymity because he is not authorised to
speak publicly on the matter.
A Malian commander in the nearby town of Niono said the
bombardments did not stop the Islamist fighters and that they occupied Alatona,
and on Monday, they succeeded in reaching the north-south road which connects
Diabaly to Segou, the administrative capital of central Mali.
By sweeping in from the west the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents
are now only 400km from Mali's capital, Bamako. Before France sent its forces
in on Friday to stop a rebel advance, the closest known spot the Islamists were
to the capital was 680km away, though they might have infiltrated closer than
that.
Fighter jets late on Sunday dropped bombs in the central
rice-growing region of Alatona after a rebel convoy was spotted 40km southeast of Diabaly, until recently the site of a major, US-funded
Millenium Challenger Corporation project. The rebels, said a Malian commander
in the nearby town of Niono, were trying to reach Diabaly, home to an important
Malian military base.
The commander, a major, insisted on anonymity because he was
not authorised to speak to the press.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday
insisted that the situation in Mali "is evolving favourably".
However, he acknowledged challenges in the west.
Difficult spot
"There is still a difficult spot in the west, where
we're dealing with extremely well-armed groups and where the operations are
ongoing at this time," said Le Drian. He did not name Diabaly, but
military officials in Mali say it is near Diabaly that the fiercest fighting is
now occurring.
The international medical humanitarian organisation Doctors
Without Borders, known by its initials in French as MSF, said on Monday that 12
people wounded in the conflict were being treated by an MSF team at a regional
hospital in Timbuktu, a roughly seven-hour journey from the conflict zone.
"We are worried about the people living close to the
combat zones, and we call on all the parties to the conflict to respect the
safety of civilians and to leave medical facilities untouched," said Rosa
Crestani, MSF emergency response coordinator.
Mali's north, an area the size of France itself, was
occupied by al-Qaeda-linked rebels nine months ago, following a coup in the
capital. For nearly as long, the international community has debated what to
do.
In December, the
United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a military
intervention, but only after an exhaustive list of pre-emptive measures were
fulfilled, starting with training the Malian military, which was supposed to
take the lead in the offensive.
All of that changed in a matter of hours last week, when
French intelligence services spotted two rebel convoys heading south, one on
the mostly east-west axis of Douentza to the garrison towns of Mopti and
Sevare, and a second heading from a locality north of Diabaly toward Segou, the
administrative capital of Central Mali.
Had either Segou or Mopti fallen, many feared that the
Islamists could advance toward the capital.
French President Francois Hollande deployed 550 French
troops to Mali and authorized the airstrikes which began Friday, initially
concentrated in the north. The French are using Mirage jets stationed in Chad,
which are able to carry 250kg bombs. They are also using Gazelle helicopter
gunships and the Rafale jet, based in France.
Britain over the weekend authorised sending several C-17
transport planes to help France bring more troops. The United States is sending
drones, as well as communications and logistical support.
Since seizing control of Mali's upper half, the Islamists
have imposed an austere form of Islam, foreign to the people of Mali, who have
long practiced a moderate religion. They have cut off the hands and feet of
thieves, in public spectacles that have left outdoor squares awash in blood.
Women live with increasingly less freedom, and are required to fully cover
themselves. They have been flogged and whipped for offenses ranging from
wearing eye shadow or perfume, to not covering their hands.
- SAPA
