French forces take airport, bridge in Mali
SEVARE, Mali French forces have taken control of the airport and a key bridge in the radical Islamist stronghold of Gao, the French defense minister said Saturday, marking a significant inroad into the heart of territory held by the al Qaeda-linked extremists.
The move comes just two weeks after France launched its military offensive to rout the Islamists from power in northern Mali. It is unclear what kind of resistance they will face in the coming days.
The Islamists first seized control of Gao and two other provinicial capitals — Timbuktu and Kidal — in April last year during the chaotic aftermath of a coup in the distant capital.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced in a statement from his ministry Saturday that jihadist fighters who encountered the advancing French and Malian troops "saw their means of transport and their logistics sites destroyed."
He provided no other details and there was no immediate word on possible casualties. Phone networks have been down in Gao for days, making it nearly impossible to independently corroborate what is going on in the town.
Gao has been under the control of the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad, or MUJAO, for months.
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On Friday in a show of might, the Islamists destroyed a bridge near the Niger border with explosives, showing that the extremists still remain a nimble and daunting enemy.
Since France began its military operation two weeks ago with a barrage of airstrikes followed by a land assault, the Islamists have retreated from three cities in central Mali: Diabaly, Konna and Douentza.
Malian soldiers look at ammunition in the wreckage of an armed pickup truck on January 26, 2013 in the town of Konna, now controlled by French and Malian forces.
/ FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Islamists, though, have maintained control of the majority of the territory in Mali's north, most importantly the cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The announcement that Gao's airport had been taken marked the first official confirmation that French and Malian forces had reached the city. Previously the closest they had been was Hombori, a town some 155 miles away.
The French currently have about 2,500 forces in the country and have said that they will stay as long as needed in Mali, a former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts.
There are currently some 1,750 troops from neighboring African countries, including Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal, Niger and Chad.
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How nimble & daunting must one be to blow up an inanimate object in occupied territory? Rather, what this really shows is how the Islamists are willing to demolish the principle/only food and economic lifelines of the victims they hoped to enslave, just to buy themselves a slight delay of justice. If they actually cared about the populace, they would not be so willing to sacrifice the populace in pursuit of their own advantage. But because they care primarily about their own power, they are eager to destroy anything that may be of value to any other party, providing only that it enriches and/or strengthens themselves. They have no allies in Mali or anywhere else, except for their fellow Islamist murderers, kidnappers, and pirates.
More Money please