BAMAKO/PARIS/ALGIERS/BRUSSELS: French troops launched their first ground operation against rebels in Mali yesterday in a crucial action to dislodge Al-Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes.
France called for international support against Mali insurgents it says are a threat to Africa and the West and acknowledged it faced a long fight against well-equipped and determined militant fighters who seized Mali’s vast desert north last year.
After militant threats to exact revenge for France’s dramatic intervention, an Al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for a raid on a gas field in Algeria in which seven foreigners were kidnapped and a French national killed.
A column of French armored vehicles moved into position on Tuesday at the town of Niono, 300 km (190 miles) from the capital Bamako. With the Malian army securing the northern region near the Mauritanian border, rebels were encircled in the nearby town of Diabaly.
French army chief Edouard Guillaud said his ground forces were starting their campaign against the alliance of fighters, grouping Al-Qaeda’s North African wing, AQIM, with Mali’s home grown Ansar Dine and MUJWA militant movements.
“In the coming hours — but I cannot tell you if it’s in one hour or 72 hours — yes, of course we will be fighting them directly,” he told Europe 1 radio.
In Niono, a resident reported seeing French and Malian troops in armored vehicles heading toward rebel lines. Fighting was reported in Diabaly but it was not immediately clear if French ground forces were involved.
Guillaud said French military strikes were being hampered because militants were using the civilian population as a shield.
“We categorically refuse to make the civilian population take a risk. If in doubt, we will not shoot,” he said. Residents who fled Diabaly confirmed the Rebels had used the urban inhabitants to protect themselves in recent days.
French fighter jets, meanwhile, struck the headquarters of the police in Niafunke, a small town on the Niger river near the ancient caravan route of Timbuktu, residents said.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian acknowledged that France faced a difficult operation, particularly in Western Mali where AQIM’s mostly foreign fighters have camps. Mauritania has pledged to close its porous frontier to the Rebels.
Algeria closing border
Algeria says it is closing its long border with Mali due to the surprise military intervention by the French against Al-Qaeda allied groups there.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Amar Belani said on Monday that Algeria is closing the nearly 1,000-km (600-mile) border because of “the events in Mali.”
French warplanes began bombing Mali, a former colony, on Friday in an effort to prevent radical Rebels who control the north from moving to the capital in the south.
Algeria is allowing flights of French aircraft to fly over its territory but has stressed the need for a political dialogue to resolve the France-Mali crisis.
Algeria has expressed concern that foreign forces fighting in Mali could cause militants to flee across the border into Algeria.
France launches ground campaign against Mali rebels
