Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Background - Mauritania shares a long border with Northern Mali...It was expected to be a big player in the coming war...However, Mauritania was knocked out of the war plan when it's President was "accidentally" shot five times...

Anita Hunt (quoted in earlier posts) found Washington Post & AP stories on Thursday (October 15) reporting that the Mauritanian President's daughter was saying her father would make a full recovery. President Aziz was not shot until the next Saturday. He was not sick (or injured) before the shooting.

After the president was shot, his sister was reported to have given the exact same statement that was attributed to the daughter in the pre-shooting article.

The story was reported in a Mauritanian newspaper (and website) that was immediately shut down. It was also reported in an Algerian newspaper.

here's the link to the Algerian Paper- [link to translate.google.com]

4 Islamist militants dead in Eastern Algeria
[link to www.lbcgroup.tv]

Maybe thats why Algeria doesn't want to be involved, they know that it's coming on them.

Analysts have said the new MNLA action in northern Mali reflects a desire by the group to play a role in combating terrorism in the region.

“However, the group should have played this role months ago when they had a strong presence in northern Mali cities,” commented Amadou Diarra, a journalist at Mali’s L’Essor daily.

“We shouldn’t ignore the new developments that prompted the group [the MNLA] to resort to armed action against the terrorists,” he added. “This includes the group’s feeling that the world is interested in negotiating with the Islamist Ansar al-Din, and therefore, the Touareg movement rushed to seize a major city in the north to strike a new field balance that would allow it to negotiate out of a strong position parallel to Ansar al-Din.”

Menaka residents who fled the area told AFP that the fighting left behind a bloodbath, with one security official describing it as “a real massacre”. Witnesses also said that the MNLA was routed after MUJAO was bolstered by reinforcements. Al-Qaeda fighters from Timbuktu were reportedly sent to help the Islamist group over the week-end in the Gao skirmishes.

[link to www.eurasiareview.com]

Wtf happened DD? Is everything ok?

Thread forgotten a bit, but news are rolling!

UN chief backs military mission in Mali
[link to www.thetimes.co.uk]

Al-Qaeda urges Mali to reject foreign troops
[link to www.aljazeera.com]

Islamists Push Secular Tuaregs Into Mali Desert
[link to abcnews.go.com]

Mali group claims kidnapping of Frenchman
[link to www.aljazeera.com]

Frenchman kidnapped in Mali asks gov't for help
[link to news.yahoo.com]

I'm still watching. Thx for the input.

My pleasure mate.
Seems to heating up.

Hitting MSM big time.

France wants Mali UN resolution by December 20
[link to news.yahoo.com]

Mauritania’s Aziz warns against Mali intervention
[link to www.saudigazette.com.sa]

Militias train new recruits to fight rebels in Mali
[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

Mali clerics unite against extremists
[link to www.magharebia.com]

Mali extremists target women
[link to www.magharebia.com]

Mali: 6 Young People Get 100 Lashes in Timbuktu
[link to abcnews.go.com]

In northern Mali, music silenced as Islamists drive out artists
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 12/01/2012 01:55 PM

Mali rebels, government to hold first direct talks
[link to news.yahoo.com]

AFRICOM chief: Intervention in Mali would fail
[link to www.armytimes.com]

Niger's President Backs Mali Intervention
[link to www.voanews.com]

Head of Mali terror group quits al Qaeda
[link to www.cbsnews.com]

Two Jazeera journalists arrested in Mali: ministry
[link to www.dailystar.com.lb]

Mali rebel groups agree ceasefire
[link to news.apsou.gr]

Mali peace talks: Tuareg and Islamist leaders 'chatted, cracked jokes'
[link to observers.france24.com]

Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

African Union appeals for UN funding for Mali force
[link to www.todayszaman.com]

U.N. peacekeeping chief: No military intervention in Mali before September
[link to news.yahoo.com]

UN sanctions Al-Qaeda linked Mali group MUJAO
[link to www.theaustralian.com.au]




There is also some kind of rebel movement/warfare in Congo the last month, which is sad because in the last 2 wars they had there (1997-2003) there were about 6 million people dead.




Humanitarian Coverup: Why is Obama Silent Over the New Congo War?
[link to www.globalresearch.ca]

Thread: France Urges Foreign Military Intervention In Mali After PM Arrest

Northern Mali: the Politics of Ethnicity and Locality
[link to thinkafricapress.com]

Algeria Deputy Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs: The solution to the crisis in Mali through the promotion of Malian political dialogue
[link to www.northafricaunited.com]

Mali: A call for international arrest warrants against the leaders of MNLA and Ansar Dine
[link to www.northafricaunited.com]

Mali: Malians Rally for Military Intervention
[link to www.ghanamma.com]

Mali: Heightened Risk of Kidnaps and Attacks in Bamako and Mining Areas
[link to thinkafricapress.com]

Mali presents risky battleground for neighbouring nations and Western Allies
[link to www.independent.co.uk]

Terror central in Mali
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Mali’s junta forces prime minister to resign
[link to articles.washingtonpost.com]

Mali names new prime minister in abrupt change of leadership
[link to edition.cnn.com]

Islamists' reign in Northern Mali grows more brutal, group say
[link to www.independent.co.uk]

Mali's military want 'no foreign boots'
[link to www.dw.de]

Doubts over Mali military mission
[link to www.dw.de]

Anatomy of a Mali Intervention
[link to original.antiwar.com]

Mali PM announces new government
[link to www.arabnews.com]

France Eyes New UN Resolution on Mali
[link to abcnews.go.com]

French push Algeria to join Mali incursion
[link to www.upi.com]

Africa renews call for urgent Mali intervention
[link to www.capitalfm.co.ke]

Mali’s sharia amputee victims face bleak future
[link to en.starafrica.com]

Mali: Northern communities struggle to sustain livelihoods
[link to en.starafrica.com]

Mali: West Africa’s Gate to Convenient Chaos, Intervention
[link to www.tripolipost.com]

U.N. Security Council authorizes military mission in Mali
[link to edition.cnn.com]

Mali: Leaders Welcome UN Backing for Intervention Force
[link to allafrica.com]

Mali rebel groups vow to end hostilities, hold talks
[link to www.france24.com]

Qatar intervening in northern Mali?
[link to www.opendemocracy.net]

Mali Islamist extremists destroy historic mausoleums in Timbuktu
[link to www.foxnews.com]

Ansar al Sharia in Mali
[link to www.longwarjournal.org]

Racism spurs Mali terrorist defections
[link to magharebia.com]

Mali: Humanitarian impact of armed intervention
[link to www.irinnews.org]

Mali: Rising Ethnic Tensions Threaten New Violence
[link to www.hrw.org]

Al-Qaida carves out own country in Northern Mali

AP - 12/31/2012

Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic fighters are burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become al-Qaida's new country.

They have used the bulldozers, earth movers and Caterpillar machines left behind by fleeing construction crews to dig what residents and local officials describe as an elaborate network of tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts. In just one case, inside a cave large enough to drive trucks into, they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.

[link to news.yahoo.com]

AFRICOM - From US Senate's Report on Benghazi Attacks

Since its creation, AFRICOM has been involved in a number of operations in Africa, with a focus on training African forces and engaging in counterterrorism activities in the Horn of Africa. Unlike many of the other geographical combatant commands, AFRICOM was developed to maintain a light footprint.

It maintains a single base on the entire continent, in Djibouti,. In the spring of 2011, AFRICOM directed U.S. support to the NATO military operations in Libya, and in October 2011, it established a joint task force to command and control post-conflict U.S. operations related to Libya...

(But) General Ham did not have complete visibility of the extent and number of government personnel in Benghazi...

AFRICOM’s lack of operational assets near Benghazi hindered its capacity to evacuate U.S. personnel during the attacks. The Djibouti base was several thousand miles away. There was no Marine expeditionary unit, carrier group or a smaller group of U.S. ships closely located in the Mediterranean Sea that could have provided aerial or ground support or helped evacuate personnel from Benghazi.

AFRICOM also lacked a dedicated Commander’s In-extremis Force (CIF)—a specially trained force capable of performing no-notice missions. As a result, General Ham was forced to call on the European Command’s CIF whose location in Eastern Europe prevented it from getting to Benghazi before the four Americans were killed and all other U.S. personnel were evacuated. We note that AFRICOM later received an independent CIF in October, 2012.

[link to www.hsgac.senate.gov]

"PEACE TALKS" are failure...

...Ansar Dine said on Thursday that it had revoked a pledge to end hostilities, accusing the government of giving nothing in return...

The group's December 21 announcement that it was ready to put down its guns and hold talks with the government had raised hopes of a negotiated settlement to end the nine-month crisis. But Thursday's reversal came as a setback for efforts to find a political solution.

"Ansar Dine has decided to revoke the offer to stop hostilities together with the negotiations..."

The Ansar Dine statement lashed out at the Malian government, saying it had given nothing in return for the promise to end hostilities and was instead busy "recruiting mercenaries" to fight in the north of Mali.

[link to www.google.com]

Ansar Dine (which was founded by a Taureg leader who found Allah during stint in Malian embassy in Saudi Arabia) is playing both sides...

They were part of the Islamists (didn't care about an independent Azawad) - their goal was Sharia throughout Mali. They defeated the secular MNLA and took a very active role in Islamization of Northern Mali (with hopes of spreading it to South)....

But then when the Islamists got really scary; and the threat of foreign intervention became real. They were the most moderate of the Islamists - so they joined peace talks (along with MNLA - the Secular Tauregs who wanted an independent Azawad).

Then, this week, they withdrew from the peace talks and now they are calling for independent (or at least autonomous) Azawad...

What do they say about the middle of the road...

[link to translate.google.com]

Nice to see you back DD.
Shame that peace talks didn't work out in this case either. :(


Judge: Push for Mali War Risks Terror Attacks in France
Investigations Launched Into Ethnic Malians in France
[link to news.antiwar.com]

UNHCR, Mali: Frustration over government inaction
[link to www.unhcr.org]

Ready of Not...It may be on
Islamists are advancing on Southern Mali...

Ready of Not; It may be on
Islamists are advancing on Southern Mali...

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

Malian soldiers have fired on Islamist fighters in the centre of the country, military sources say.

It the first significant fighting reported between the two sides since Islamist and Tuareg rebels seized control of the north of the country last April.

The Islamists had reportedly tried to make an advance into the government-controlled south....

Here's another story in French...

[link to translate.google.com]

Malian Islamists move south toward government forces
[link to www.swissinfo.ch]

All of the news sites we can't link to are reporting that the Malian army & Islamists are fighting near the de facto border...

In R**ters - Mali army fires warning shots to halt Islamist advance

The G**rdian is reporting that the Malian Army has gone on the offensive near Mopte. The article ends with this -

The main concern if the Malian army begin fighting the Islamists is the potential for a backlash in the south," said the diplomatic source. "You could find terrorist cells activated around the country."

Google Mali if interested in reading articles...

Here is something I can link 2; blog posting by Bamako Bruce -

Mali has been swirling with rumors of an Islamist offensive since Sunday 6 January, when panicked posts on Facebook reported dozens of pickups full of heavily armed militants advancing on the town of Mopti, and contended that nearby Sévaré (home of the Malian army’s forward HQ) was being “quietly encircled” and infiltrated. The next day a Malian newspaper claimed that Islamists were also threatening the towns of Koro, Diabaly and Nara. Let’s recall that similar panics have occurred in Mopti before and proved to be unwarranted. This much is sure: Islamist forces are reinforcing at least some of their positions over a front line stretching nearly 500 km, from the Mauritanian border to the border with Burkina....

See [link to bamakobruce.wordpress.com]

On it. :)

Mali army fires warning shots to halt Islamist advance
[link to news.apsou.gr]

Malian army attacks Islamist rebels in the north
[link to news.apsou.gr]

Wow you're quick. Thanks IFUN

My pleasure. :)
Situation seems to be escalating uncontrollably and not in sync with the timeframe that UNSC has set for a mission.

Looks like Islamists are moving to take entire country...

Steffi in Timbuktu (@emensah08)
1/10/13, 11:43 AM
MT @tommymiles: Just saw (unverified) claim military among those leaving Mopti. That would be bad // That would be NOT surprising. #Mali

Peter Tinti (Bamako based foreign correspondent often heard on BBC radio is reporting same thing)

#Mali: Islamist rebels take another city (Konna) extending their control southward - nothing in report on Mopti

[link to fxn.ws]