Mali rebels attack northern town in coup aftermath
Source: AP
By BABA AHMED, Associated Press 1 minute ago
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) Rebels on Saturday attacked Mali's strategic northern city of Gao, a day after they took the provincial capital of Kidal, witnesses and an official said. The move deepens the crisis in the landlocked West African nation after a coup earlier this month.
The two towns are major prizes for the Tuareg rebels, who launched an insurgency in January that was fueled by the flow of arms from the fall of neighboring Libya, where many of the rebels had been on the payroll of ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Gao is just 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the capital of the landlocked nation, where a putsch claimed power 10 days ago.
If Gao falls, the only other major city in Mali's north in government hands is Timbuktu.
A soldier based in a military camp on the outskirts of Gao said he could hear the sound of heavy weapons being fired on Saturday. A resident in Gao said that he had seen the Tuareg fighters in the city and that there were brief gunbattles in the town. He said people had barricaded themselves at home. Both the soldier and the resident requested anonymity because they feared retribution.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jB6KjyJLsriSIPj1Yv8o2svdl7Hg?docId=44411ce73e654ff8bde8fa00c84bca2a
Alamuti Lotus
(3,093 posts)they are working closely with al-Qa'idah's North Africa (AQIM) organization. The heavy weaponry seized from abandoned Libyan government depots following the NATO invasion are serving them well.
The main leaders behind the coup plotters are very closely tied to US intelligence and have traveled to the US multiple times to receive "anti-terror training". It is slightly ironic, though I suspect not altogether accidental, that their coup to prevent the rebels from being treated with kid gloves, has at least for the moment resulted in the rebels taking over most of the country.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)Thanks.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)tabasco
(22,974 posts)read : "abandoned gold mine."
The depots were "abandoned" by the mercenaries, etc. as they were defeated militarily. No doubt a lot of the stuff was stolen as the rats fled the sinking ship.
Your link is from September last year. I'm thinking the military winners have secured their booty by now.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,321 posts)A statement said they had "control of the entire region" of Timbuktu, and had ended the Malian "occupation".
Eyewitnesses said the rebels bombarded a local army base, but government troops had already left.
...
The rebels' statement said they would now begin their "mission of defending and securing the territory of the Azawad, for the happiness of its people".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17576725
They also say they are not linked to the Islamists.