Welcome to Africa’s Alqaedastan

[American_Jihad]

Welcome to Africa’s Alqaedastan

January 8, 2013
By Daniel Greenfield

“When it was my turn, they took me blindfolded,” the thief said. “Suddenly I felt a pain in my right hand that was out of this world. My hand had just been chopped off.”

This is Gao, once the seat of an empire, and then a glorified village, and now a city the size of Scranton under the boot of its Islamist conquerors. Gao has become a place where thieves have their hands cut off, where women are forced to wear the stifling Hijab in 113 degree heat or be lashed and where unmarried couples are stoned to death.

Borders are an illusion in Africa. No more than paper mirages that cannot be seen from the air or the roads where a thousand ethnic groups with dreams of glory move back and forth, striving and feuding, until the blood begins to flow.

...

Welcome to Africa’s Alqaedastan

 

[waltky]

al-Qaida affiliate Ansar Dine takes Konna, close to Bamako, capital of Mali...

UN Security Council Calls Emergency Session on Mali
January 10, 2013: The 15-member United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency session Thursday evening for talks on the crisis in Mali.

A U.N. spokeswoman confirmed the meeting just hours before its scheduled start, but said the exact agenda for the closed-door session was not clear. The meeting comes just hours after witnesses said Islamist militants seized a town northeast of the capital, Bamako, from government troops. The militant group Ansar Dine said Islamist fighters took control of Konna at 11 a.m. local time Thursday. Residents of Konna confirmed the takeover to VOA. The Konna takeover places the militant force within about 25 kilometers of the major government frontline town of Mopti.

A journalist in Mopti said things were "normal" there but that more soldiers were arriving late in the day. Earlier in the day, Malian defense ministry official Lieutenant-Colonel Diarran Kone denied the loss of Konna. He said he Malian army is "going after the terrorists", but declined to outline the army's plans. Talks scheduled for Thursday between Mali's government and the armed groups in the north have been postponed in the wake of the fighting. The United Nations envoy to Mali, Romano Prodi, was due to arrive Thursday in the capital, Bamako. His talks with the government are expected to focus on when outside military intervention can come to Mali.

Last month, the U.N. Security Council approved a plan for West African states to deploy at least 3,000 troops to Mali to help train the army and retake the north. Al-Qaida-linked groups took control of Mali's north soon after renegade soldiers overthrew the government last March. Prodi has said he foresees no foreign troops in Mali until September of this year, but the Malian government says it wants the intervention to happen as soon as possible.

Source

 

[Mad Scientist]

Didn't we hear this same kind of shit right before the Iraq War?

 

[waltky]

France comin' to the rescue...

France vows help after Mali Islamists take town
Jan 11,`13 -- Radical Islamists held on to a city in central Mali Friday after sending the Malian military reeling in retreat. With the militants showing the capability to press even further into government-held territory, international aid organizations began evacuating staff from the narrow central belt of the country.

Residents who live near an airport about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the captured town on Konna reported hearing planes arrive throughout the night. Who, or what, the planes were bringing could not be immediately determined. The United Nations Security Council condemned the capture of Konna and called on U.N. member states to provide assistance to Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups." A regional military intervention to take back northern Mali from the Islamists was not likely before September, though the advance by the Islamists creates pressure for earlier military action.

On Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the former colonial power is ready to help to the stop the Islamist extremists. He did not specify what assistance it is prepared to offer. "France, like its African partners and the entire international community, cannot accept that," he said in a speech to France's diplomatic corps, referring to the Islamists' advances in the desert nation in northwest Africa. A top French diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said that France is now able to deploy military assets - notably air power - over Mali "very quickly."

He insisted that Hollande's speech is "not just words. ... When you say that you are ready to intervene, you have to be." However, he declined to provide details about how such military action might take shape. France's position has been complicated because kidnappers in northern Mali hold seven French hostages. For months, Hollande has said France would not send ground forces into Mali, and France is sticking to those plans, the official said. But Hollande's speech suggested that French air power could be used, the official said.

The fighting Wednesday and Thursday over the town of Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the time the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no further until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River. "We have chased the army out of the town of Konna, which we have occupied since 11 a.m.," declared Sanda Abou Mohamed, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine militant group, speaking by telephone from Timbuktu.

MORE

 

[American_Jihad]

France comin' to the rescue...

France vows help after Mali Islamists take town
Jan 11,`13 -- Radical Islamists held on to a city in central Mali Friday after sending the Malian military reeling in retreat. With the militants showing the capability to press even further into government-held territory, international aid organizations began evacuating staff from the narrow central belt of the country.

Residents who live near an airport about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the captured town on Konna reported hearing planes arrive throughout the night. Who, or what, the planes were bringing could not be immediately determined. The United Nations Security Council condemned the capture of Konna and called on U.N. member states to provide assistance to Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups." A regional military intervention to take back northern Mali from the Islamists was not likely before September, though the advance by the Islamists creates pressure for earlier military action.

On Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the former colonial power is ready to help to the stop the Islamist extremists. He did not specify what assistance it is prepared to offer. "France, like its African partners and the entire international community, cannot accept that," he said in a speech to France's diplomatic corps, referring to the Islamists' advances in the desert nation in northwest Africa. A top French diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said that France is now able to deploy military assets - notably air power - over Mali "very quickly."

He insisted that Hollande's speech is "not just words. ... When you say that you are ready to intervene, you have to be." However, he declined to provide details about how such military action might take shape. France's position has been complicated because kidnappers in northern Mali hold seven French hostages. For months, Hollande has said France would not send ground forces into Mali, and France is sticking to those plans, the official said. But Hollande's speech suggested that French air power could be used, the official said.

The fighting Wednesday and Thursday over the town of Konna represents the first clashes between Malian government forces and the Islamists in nearly a year, since the time the militants seized the northern cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. The Islamists seized the town of Douentza four months ago after brief standoff with a local militia, but pushed no further until clashes broke out late Wednesday in Konna, a city of 50,000 people, where fearful residents cowered inside their homes. Konna is just 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of the government-held town of Mopti, a strategic port city along the Niger River. "We have chased the army out of the town of Konna, which we have occupied since 11 a.m.," declared Sanda Abou Mohamed, a spokesman for the Ansar Dine militant group, speaking by telephone from Timbuktu.

MORE

Malian Rebels Take Town and Vow to Avenge French Attack

1/14/13
By STEVEN ERLANGER, ALAN COWELL and ADAM NOSSITER


PARIS — Despite intensive airstrikes by French warplanes, Islamist fighters overran a strategic village and military post in central Mali on Monday, offering an indication that the war against extremists who have carved out a jihadist state in the nation’s north could be a long and difficult one.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/world/france-mali-intervention.html?_r=0

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Bible says dey's gonna be wars an' rumors of wars inna endtime...

African Union Works with Partners On Mali Crisis
January 16, 2013 : The African Union is working with international partners and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deal with the fighting underway in Mali, according to the deputy chairman of the African Union Commission.

Deputy chairman Erastus Mwencha says the African Union always seeks a peaceful solution to situations like the one in Mali, where Islamist militants have seized northern regions of the country. “We need to send a strong signal to the separatists and the people who are there that their action cannot be tolerated,” said Mwencha. “Our expectation is to restore peace and to make sure Mali remains as an integral state, or Mali is in charge of its own affairs,” he added. Mwencha’s comment comes as West African regional leaders plan to meet Saturday to approve a military plan to deal with Mali’s Islamist insurgents. Mwencha says the African-led force will combat the Islamist separatist with the aim of maintaining Mali’s territorial integrity.

Some analysts have accused both the AU and ECOWAS of failing to act ahead of time in Mali, which they contend allowed the militants to take more territory in the north and threaten the capital, Bamako. They also said the two organizations appear to have taken aggressive action only after France launched its own military offensive against the insurgents. Mwencha disagreed. “It is not fair to say that there was a delay, because we have been engaging first of all to reach out and give negotiations, [and] call the parties to the table,” said Mwencha. He rejected assertions that both the AU and ECOWAS should have taken military action earlier to crush the insurgency in Mali when it began.

Mwencha says the organizations believe that military action should be the last resort to end the crisis. “Those who are criticizing always think that the best way to solve the problem is to send bombers and go and kill people. Then you are not better than the people you are fighting, because if they are terrorist killing people and you also start killing people, [then] what is the difference?” asked Mwencha. “We have been in touch, we are talking and if that doesn’t work, then of course you go to war because all those avenues have failed,” he concluded.

Source

See also:

Nigeria Set for Mali Troop Deployment
January 15, 2013 — Nigeria says it will deploy troops to Mali within 24 hours, with more to follow in the coming week. This comes as French troops continue to battle Islamist militants in the north of Mali, waiting for support from West African countries.

President Goodluck Jonathan said late Monday that Nigerian troops will be in Mali within a week. Defense spokesman Colonel Mohammed Yerima told VOA that about 190 soldiers, one company, will be deployed by Wednesday, with another 700 to follow. In recent days, rebel groups who control the north of Mali have advanced south into government-controlled territory. Over the weekend, France sent planes and hundreds of soldiers into the fray, citing fears that the rebels could move on the capital, Bamako.

West African countries have been planning for months to send a force of more than 3,000 troops to Mali to help the government retake the north. ​​Jonathan said the Nigerian commander of the force is already on the ground in Mali, along with an air force technical team. Militant groups have criticized France for its intervention in Mali, calling the conflict "France’s Afghanistan." Malian Prime Minister Django Cissoko describes the rebel groups as "terrorists and organized criminals". He says fighting in Mali is now threatening the entire Sahel region and Mali needs international assistance to survive.

The Islamists in Mali have imposed a harsh form of Sharia in the north and are accused of numerous human rights abuses, including public executions, floggings, and amputations. Along with Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, and Burkina Faso are expected to send troops to Mali. ECOWAS has urged the member countries to ‘deploy immediately.’

Source

 

[Katzndogz]

obama's training of the terrorist leader is finally paying off.