| Voice of America | - |
Islamist
militants have lost more ground in northern Mali, with French and
Malian troops taking the city of Timbuktu, and secular Tuareg rebels
announcing they have seized the city of Kidal.
Northern Mali conflict
Malian
soldiers man a checkpoint on the Gao road outside Sevare, some 620
kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako, Jan. 27, 2013.
News / Africa
Islamists Pushed Out of Timbuktu and Kidal in Northern Mali
Malian
soldiers man a checkpoint on the Gao road outside Sevare, some 620
kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako, Jan. 27, 2013.
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January 28, 2013
Islamist militants have lost more ground in northern Mali, with French
and Malian troops taking the city of Timbuktu, and secular Tuareg
rebels announcing they have seized the city of Kidal.
A spokesman for Tuareg rebel group MNLA said Monday that the group's fighters now control Kidal and the nearby town of Tessalit. There has been no independent confirmation of the claim.
Meanwhile, French media reports say French and Malian troops entered central Timbuktu on Monday, a day after they seized the local airport and the key roads that lead to the historic city.
The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO lists Timbuktu as a World Heritage site for its ancient mosques and shrines, some of which date back to the 15th century. But Islamist group Ansar Dine considers the sites sacrilegious, and the militants destroyed some mausoleums while they controlled the city.
Map of Mali
Timbuktu's mayor said Monday that Islamists fleeing the town set fire to a library housing thousands of historic manuscripts.
Earlier, VOA correspondent Anne Look, who is in Malian town of Sevare, reported most Malians are cheered by the Islamists' retreat.
“What’s interesting when I talk to people both in Bamako and in the north, there’s a real sense, especially among average folk but among the military people that I talked to, that they’ve got the enemy on the run, that these kind of landmark victories - taking back Gao over the weekend, and getting so close to Timbuktu - are really boosting morale," said Look.
French and Malian forces retook Gao on Saturday from Islamists who fled without resistance.
Afterward, residents of Gao played music in the streets, danced, smoked and wore Western-style clothing, celebrating their first full day in months without the strict Islamic law the militants had imposed.
Residents of Gao said the Islamists are hiding in villages 10 kilometers to 15 kilometers outside the city.
Some residents said people are hunting down anyone who collaborated with the Islamist occupiers, and they predicted severe punishment for those collaborators.
France began a military offensive in Mali earlier this month after rebels, who had seized control of much of the country's northern territory last year, began pushing toward Bamako.
A spokesman for Tuareg rebel group MNLA said Monday that the group's fighters now control Kidal and the nearby town of Tessalit. There has been no independent confirmation of the claim.
Meanwhile, French media reports say French and Malian troops entered central Timbuktu on Monday, a day after they seized the local airport and the key roads that lead to the historic city.
The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO lists Timbuktu as a World Heritage site for its ancient mosques and shrines, some of which date back to the 15th century. But Islamist group Ansar Dine considers the sites sacrilegious, and the militants destroyed some mausoleums while they controlled the city.
Map of MaliEarlier, VOA correspondent Anne Look, who is in Malian town of Sevare, reported most Malians are cheered by the Islamists' retreat.
“What’s interesting when I talk to people both in Bamako and in the north, there’s a real sense, especially among average folk but among the military people that I talked to, that they’ve got the enemy on the run, that these kind of landmark victories - taking back Gao over the weekend, and getting so close to Timbuktu - are really boosting morale," said Look.
French and Malian forces retook Gao on Saturday from Islamists who fled without resistance.
Afterward, residents of Gao played music in the streets, danced, smoked and wore Western-style clothing, celebrating their first full day in months without the strict Islamic law the militants had imposed.
Residents of Gao said the Islamists are hiding in villages 10 kilometers to 15 kilometers outside the city.
Some residents said people are hunting down anyone who collaborated with the Islamist occupiers, and they predicted severe punishment for those collaborators.
France began a military offensive in Mali earlier this month after rebels, who had seized control of much of the country's northern territory last year, began pushing toward Bamako.
A Malian family's taxi is searched at a checkpoint on the Gao road outside Sevare, 620 kilometers north of Mali's capital Bamako, January 27, 2013.
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