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

A French soldier and more than 20 Islamist rebels were killed during what appeared to be the first clashes in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range where militants have taken refuge in northern Mali, French sources said.
[link to tvnz.co.nz]

Pirates who kidnapped six foreign sailors from an oil servicing vessel off the Nigerian coast on Sunday are demanding 200 million naira for their release, police said on Tuesday.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

France has urged its citizens to leave northern Cameroon after Tuesday’s kidnapping of a family of seven. Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian blamed Nigerian armed Islamist group Boko Haram.
[link to www.english.rfi.fr]

Malian authorities are investigating claims of torture, killings and reprisals by its own soldiers against minorities suspected of links to Islamist militants — accusations that threaten to jeopardize international support for fighting terrorism in the Sahara.
[link to abcnews.go.com]

An Unexpected Mission for France’s Defense Minister
[link to www.nytimes.com]

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 02/20/2013 10:33 AM

Weapons fire shook the northern Malian town of Gao on Thursday as Malian army troops backed by French and West African forces battled Islamist militants. A Mali defense ministry official said the army continues to repel attacks by what he called “terrorists."
[link to www.voanews.com]

Islamist Threat Spreads from Mali into Nigeria, Threatening U.S. Energy Security
[link to blog.heritage.org]

Unesco raising $11m to save Mali’s heritage
[link to www.theartnewspaper.com]

Does France Have an Exit Strategy in Mali?
France's intervention in Mali has so far succeeded, but expelling Islamist militants was the easy part. Now Paris must turn its tactical achievements into a lasting victory -- which will require a light but enduring presence in the country.
[link to www.foreignaffairs.com]

Wow - This could be the one story out of Mali that IFUN hasn't posted -

THANKS IFUN...

Human Rights Watch urged the Malian government on Thursday to investigate and prosecute soldiers accused of committing torture, summary executions and other atrocities in the fight against Islamist militants in the country’s north.

[link to f24.my]

Basically, it looks like the Somali pirate problem has been transported to West Africa and is now a Nigerian pirate problem. Much of the oil processed by LA & TX refineries comes from Nigeria - so this could be BAD

My pleasure Darby, hope you doing great.

MUJWA Takes Credit for Attacks in GAO & Car Bombing in Kidal

A spokesman for Mujao, the Islamist group which controlled Gao for nine months, said their fighters had entered Gao on Wednesday.

"Our troops have been ordered to attack. If the enemy is stronger, we'll pull back only to return stronger, until we liberate Gao," Abu Walid Sahraoui told AFP.

He later said that Mujao had detonated a car bomb near a military base in Kidal.

He told AFP the group had no difficulty getting into Kidal "to blow up a vehicle as planned".

"More explosions will happen across our territory," he added.

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

I am doing great - just got back from chaperoning my daughter's 8th grade French club trip to Quebec - I have never been so cold in my life BRRR...

Sounds like great mother-daughter fun, bar the cold, really glad you doing great.

The fighting in Gao, in northern Mali, has intensified with up to 20 Islamists killed in a battle that erupted after extremists were reported to have infiltrated the city, France's defence ministry said Friday.
[link to www.globalpost.com]

Al-Qaeda-linked rebels claimed a car bomb attack near a camp housing French troops as Malian and foreign forces battled to secure Mali's volatile north against Islamist fighters. At leasttwo civilians were wounded after a vehicle exploded just 500 metres (yards) from a camp occupied by French and Chadian troops in the city of Kidal, local officials said, in what appeared to be the first such attack in the conflict.
[link to www.ipaidabribenaija.com]

The UN cultural agency, UNESCO, has granted a peace prize to the French president for his “valuable contribution to peace and stability in Africa,” amid the ongoing French-led war in the African country of Mali.
[link to www.presstv.com]

Russia’s foreign ministry said the international community must ramp up its efforts and stop the tide of violence from rising in Mali.
[link to www.washingtontimes.com]

Tuaregs and Arabs Not Ready to Return to Mali
[link to allafrica.com]

The U.S. Embassy in Senegal said on Friday it had received information of a bomb threat to the capital Dakar.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

Send in the Drones!

100 U.S. military personnel arrive in Niger.

They will support drone operations in the Sahel and North Africa - think Mali & Southern Libya

[link to reut.rs]

Scores killed as Chadian soldiers, rebels clash in Mali

At least 13 Chadian soldiers and 65 Islamist rebels were killed in clashes in northern Mali on Friday, the heaviest loss by African troops since the launch of a French-led military campaign there against militants six weeks ago.


[link to www.france24.com]

BBC Report on fighting in Mali - 'Many die' in Ifoghas mountain battle; US Surveillance Drones are involved in intelligence gathering

[link to bbc.in]

Article about chances that government of Niger might collapse - too late in evening for me to read it - maybe tomorrow

[link to translate.google.com]

Regional African leaders have signed a UN-brokered accord which aims to bring peace to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal was signed in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

As many as 800,000 people have been displaced since the March 23 rebel group took up arms against the Kinshasa government last May.
[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

UN leader Ban Ki-moon renewed claims Tuesday that rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have had "external support" and warned that conflict could erupt again.
[link to www.globalpost.com]

Sudanese forces said late Monday that they had captured an area from rebels in the restive state of Blue Nile in fierce fighting that led to the deaths of 66 rebels and several government soldiers.
[link to www.nytimes.com]

The Central African Republic will on Sunday begin removing rebels from villages and towns they have occupied since December, the commander of the multinational African force FOMAC said Saturday.
[link to www.nation.co.ke]

Experts Weekly: Will the Central African Republic's New Unity Government Hold?
[link to thinkafricapress.com]

Ten More Chadian soldiers killed in fighting in Mali - that brings total killed since Friday to 23.

The latest Chadian fatalities came in an area of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains where 13 Chadian soldiers were killed in clashes on Friday... At least 93 rebels have been killed in fighting in the area so far, Chad's army said.

Source- r**ters

Fighting has broken out in Tessalit between Tuaregs & Malian Arabs - the two ethnic groups most associated with the rebellion...

[link to translate.google.com]

Nearly 100 Islamist fighters were killed in a firefight last week in the rugged northern reaches of Mali, the Chadian military announced on Sunday, in what appears to have been the single most deadly ground battle since the Malian war began in mid-January.
[link to www.nytimes.com]

Islamists in northern Mali have the "destructive power" of an army, a top Malian colonel said Sunday, while showcasing weapons seized in Gao since French-led forces retook the city last month.
[link to www.google.com]

Fighting over control of a gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region has killed more than 500 people and destroyed 68 villages since January, a Sudanese lawmaker said on Monday, sharply increasing estimates of the casualties from the violence
[link to thestar.com.my]

Algerian president says Mali crisis threatens Algeria
[link to www.aa.com.tr]

An Algerian government official says security forces have killed a dozen extremist fighters in northern areas outside the capital and uncovered an arms cache in an area known for attacks against security forces.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

France admits they are in for a tough fight in Mali

[link to aje.me]

France's defence minister has said that French troops are involved in "very violent fighting" in the mountains of northern Mali and that it is too early to talk about a quick pullout from the West African country, despite the growing cost of the intervention.

The fighting against rebels in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains has been going on for days.

A clash in the area killed 23 soldiers from neighbouring Chad on Friday, according to a letter from French President Francois Hollande expressing condolences to his Chadian counterpart.

Seven Killed by Islamist Car Bomb in Norther Mali

[link to thestar.com.my]

French forces in Mali have reportedly killed Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, a commander of al Qaeda's north Africa wing.
[link to uk.news.yahoo.com]

Three French officials say French forces will remain in the West African country of Mali at least until July amid fiercer-than-expected resistance from Islamic extremists, despite official promises to begin a quick pullout within weeks.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

Germany's parliament has approved plans to send up to 330 troops to Mali to help train the West African country's military and provide logistical support. However, Germany will not contribute troops to combat operations.
www.dw.de/germany-to-send-noncombat-troops-to-support-mali-mi​litary/a-16637049

A top French diplomat says the United Nations Security Council will ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a formal report on the feasibility of a U.N. peacekeeping operation in the West African nation of Mali.
[link to www.voanews.com]

Thanks IFUN - You covered it all - I just have one tidbit to add...

The information has been confirmed by a reliable source close to the ongoing military operations in northern Mali: Abu Zeid, one of the leaders of the most powerful katiba Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and which holds four French hostages kidnapped in Arlit, Niger, was killed.

The exact date of his death is not yet known precisely, but it all goes back to the days... Forty-three men of the Abu Zeid katiba died with him.

[link to translate.google.com]

details on supposed death of AQIM leader - Abu Zeid

Identified by his personal weapons; none of the bodies matched his physical description -

[link to translate.google.com]

Both Malian & Chadian TV reporting that Belmokhtar has been killed

[link to twitter.com (secure)]

He is former AQIM leader behind attack in Amenas Algeria.

BBC Report of Belmokhtar's Death

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

Wow, thanks for important news Darby.

still hearing a lot of conflicting reports about this from my Malian friends. Most recent, he's dead but he wasn't killed by French/Chadian/Malian forces (accident? Or his own?)

Here's another interesting piece of the puzzle. Several months ago, right before he was going to announce his country's participation in Mali conflict, - the President of Mauritania was accidently shot 5 times by his own military. Mauritania is not participating in the Malian action.

Now, we learn this. There was an attempted military coup in Benin last month. Benin is supposed to be participant in the Mali conflict - but unsure if any of their boots are actually of ground. Who's behind it?

[link to www.tipnews.info]

Reports Belmokthar still alive...

[link to reut.rs]

Fighters linked to the radical Islamic terrorist network Boko Haram attacked a military base in Nigeria’s north on Sunday in an assault that left at least 20 people dead, as the network’s leader denied any peace talks with Nigeria’s government.
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Boko Haram - no peace talks
[link to www.news24.com]

Fresh violence threatens DR Congo peace deal
Fighting erupts between Congolese troops and breakaway rebel group days after peace deal was signed by regional leaders.
[link to www.aljazeera.com]

DR Congo rebels claim recapturing of two towns, Rwandan Hutu militants took advantage of internecine fighting between Congo's M23 rebels Friday to wrest control of a gold-producing Congo border town, an aid worker and a United Nations official said.
[link to www.modernghana.com]
[link to online.wsj.com]

The M23 rebel delegation at the ongoing dialogue with the DR Congo government has split into two factions following last week’s internal clashes within the rebel group’s high command.
[link to www.newvision.co.ug]

Multiple attacks against security forces in Kenya on Monday killed at least 12 people as Kenyans waited in long lines to cast ballots five years after more than 1,000 people died in election-related violence.
[link to www.usatoday.com]

Fighting has broken out between government forces and rebels in central Sudan, both sides said on Sunday, in an escalation of violence so far concentrated closer to the country's borders.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

Thanks for keeping us updated on this. I remember Mauritanian president getting shot, thanks for Benin info, someone is pulling the strings for sure. Mauritania is a traditional Islam stronghold in the region, i'll try to dig in for some more info.

French President Francois Hollande has said his country will begin withdrawing troops from Mali next month. He said the final phase of military intervention would continue throughout March and be scaled down in April.
[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

A French soldier was killed during a clash with Islamist fighters early Wednesday in northern Mali, the French Defense Ministry said. Four French soldiers have been killed in Mali since the beginning of France's military intervention there in January.
[link to edition.cnn.com]

French forces have seized a significant arms cache in northern Mali believed to have belonged to Islamist jihadist groups, including "tons" of heavy weapons, suicide belts and equipment for improvised explosive devices, France's defense minister said Friday.
[link to edition.cnn.com]

A French jihadi fighter was to be extradited from Mali on Friday, according to Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who said that the man is the second Islamist to be sent to France this week. A “large part of the work” of the French intervention has been accomplished, the minister said.
[link to www.english.rfi.fr]

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said Monday (March 4th) in Nouakchott that the country was ready to join a UN force in Mali.
[link to www.magharebia.com]

Niger remains wary of Mali crisis on its doorstep: Niger assisted its neighbour during uprising but has worked hard to shield itself from recent north and west African turmoil
[link to reliefweb.int]