http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/08/mutiny-junta-faces-more-turmoil-amid-clashes-in-mali-capital/
Mutiny: Junta Faces More Turmoil Amid Clashes in Mali Capital
'Red Beret' Fighters Loyal to Ousted President Clash With Junta Forces
by Jason Ditz, February 08, 2013
The Malian junta, which French invasion forces aim to install in control of the rest of the nation, is facing yet more problems today after a mutiny broke out among paratroopers in the capital city of Bamako.
Fighters loyal to President Amadou Toure, who was ousted by the junta last year, refused orders to deploy northward to fight the rebels and instead turned their guns on junta forces. The pro-Toure forces fought unsuccessfully against the coup but retained their positions in the military afterwards.
The clashes centered around a single military base in Bamako and lasted several hours. At least two people, both civilians, were killed, while a large but unspecified number of troops on both sides were wounded.
The fight reflects how little control the junta has even in what is nominally its home territory, and adds to concerns about how they will possibly be able to be installed as a government across the rebel-held north, which clearly doesn’t welcome them.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/08/former-us-envoy-french-ransom-funding-mali-rebels/
Former US Envoy: French ‘Ransom’ Funding Mali Rebels
French Officials Refuse to Confirm or Deny Reports
by Jason Ditz, February 08, 2013
The rebels in northern Mali got their weapons by way of the black market in the wake of the NATO-imposed regime change in Libya. Where they got their money, however, is another matter entirely.
According to former US Ambassador to Mali Vicki Huddleston, the French government paid $17 million to ransom French hostages held by some of the same factions active in the Malian rebellion.
Officials from the former French government denied the ransom. Current officials are less willing to go on record,refusing to either confirm or deny the ransoms. Huddleston says between France and other EU nations some $89 million were sent to Islamists in Northern Africa.
The French Foreign Ministry says that their goal during the crisis was to secure the release of the hostages, but the US State Department condemned that, saying that EU nations should never pay ransoms because its “just feeding into the coffers of the terrorists.”
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/07/mali-islamists-orderly-retreat-suggests-group-still-intact/
Mali Islamists’ ‘Orderly Retreat’ Suggests Group Still Intact
French Territorial Gains Don't Mean War Is Nearing End
by Jason Ditz, February 07, 2013
Reports from several towns in Northern Mali all say the same thing: Islamist fighters were not “routed” by the French invasion as previous reportedly but rather made a very orderly withdrawal from the cities, suggesting the forces remain largely intact in the rugged northern desert.
Islamist fighters had controlled more than two-thirds of the nation when France invaded, and while they seem to have willingly ceded the cities and towns they have not disbanded, and are switching to more straightforward insurgent tactics, with IED use growing markedly.
French officials have been eager to talk up town occupations as proof that the war is in its “final phase,” but how much damage they have done to the various Islamist forces is still unclear, and Tuareg secessionists are a growing concern as well.
The Tuaregs, ousted from Northern Mali by the Islamists, have retaken at least two cities in the northeast recently, and while they have discussed peace talks with the French, they are unwilling to drop their demands for autonomy, leading the French-backed junta to conclude that they are going to be another “enemy force” to contend with in the long run.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/02/08/first-suicide-bombing-targets-troops-in-malis-gao/
First Suicide Bombing Targets Troops in Mali’s Gao
First Such Attack Since French Invasion
by Jason Ditz, February 08, 2013
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint in the Malian city of Gao today, the first time such a bombing attack has been carried out since the French invasion. None of the soldiers at the checkpoint were reported killed in the attack.
Locals say that the attacker, named Al Farouk, had lived int he town for about seven months and was affiliated withjihadists. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa claimed credit for the attack.
With this and the growing number of improvised explosive attacks against military convoys, it seems more and more apparent that the rebel movement, having withdrawnfrom Mali’s cities, are now engaged in a more straightforward insurgency.
Despite a large number of air strikes, Mali’s rebel leadership has more or less remained untouched, and has moved into a series of caves and tunnels in the northern desert which will be extremely difficult to unseat them from. This could set the stage for a protracted war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/french-troops-begin-withdrawal-from-timbuktu-ramp-up-security-in-other-north-mali-city/2013/02/07/65409372-7186-11e2-b3f3-b263d708ca37_print.html
Suicide bombing in Mali; soldiers allied with coup leader attack camp of presidential guard
By Associated Press,
GAO, Mali — A suicide bomber hit a checkpoint in northern Mali on Friday, killing only himself in the first known suicide bombing since French military forces intervened in this chaotic African nation whose northern half was ruled by armed Islamic extremists.
And in the capital Bamako, far to the south, soldiers from a unit allied with the leader of last year’s military coup in Mali stormed the camp of the Red Beret presidential guard Friday morning, and at least one person was killed and five were wounded, witnesses said. The bloodshed underscores that Mali’s military is in disarray and in poor shape to confront, without outside help, the well-armed Islamic extremists, many of whom have combat experience.
The suicide bombing happened in the city of Gao, which was occupied by armed Islamic extremists until French-led military forces pushed them out. It was the first known suicide bombing in Mali since France started its military intervention on Jan. 11.
Malian military spokesman Modibo Traore confirmed that a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint at the entrance to Gao around 6 a.m. on Friday. The bomber, who was wearing an explosive belt, was the only casualty. The bomber was on a motorcycle and blew himself up just before a Malian military checkpoint on the edge of Gao. Officials at a French military base in Gao declined to comment on the attack.
Friday afternoon, Malian soldiers stood guard at a building near the scene of the attack, splattered in the bomber’s blood. The only other evidence of the attack were the mangled, charred remains of his bike. The Malian soldiers said that nearby villagers had taken the man’s remains away and buried them before sunset, as local Muslim custom.
Residents who heard the blast from their mud-walled homes on the dusty road nearby, said the attack occurred just after 6 a.m.
“It shook so loudly I thought it had hit my house,” resident Agali Ouedraogo said.
Fears have been high of such attacks since the discovery of industrial-strength explosives earlier this week. French troops on Thursday were amping up security and searching out Islamic extremists who may be mixing among the population in Gao. On Tuesday, extremists fired rocket launchers at French troops near Gao.
Malian soldiers gave up towns in northern Mali with hardly a fight last year to insurgents, and then a military coup in the capital, led by a captain, disrupted the command system. Witnesses described a concerted effort by a unit allied with the coup leader to take the camp of the presidential guard in Bamako.
“Since 6 a.m., the soldiers arrived in armored cars and pickup trucks, all of them armed to the teeth to attack our base. The women and children tried to stop them from entering the camp. They shot tear gas at us and started shooting volleys in the air,” said Batoma Dicko, a woman who lives in the military camp. The camp includes housing for military families.
Dr. Amadou Diallo, who works at the infirmary in the camp, known as Djicoroni Para Camp, said there was at least one dead and five wounded.
“A young man in his 20s was hit by a bullet in the head and he died on the spot. The bullet pierced his face through his right cheekbone, and came out through his neck. He was totally disfigured. There are also two women who were wounded, and three children, aged 11, 17 and around 15 years old.”
The Red Berets were the elite presidential guard who protected former President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was toppled in a coup last March by junior officers. Green-bereted troops backed Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who seized power last year before ostensibly turning power back over to civilians, and they were the ones who attacked the camp on Friday.
Soon after the coup, the camp has been attacked several times by the pro-coup soldiers. On earlier occasions, they disarmed the soldiers, and removed all of their artillery and ammunition.
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