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France bombs Islamists in north Mali
[BBC] French forces have bombed Islamist Lion of Islam positions in northern Mali.Four or five bombs were dropped in the Esssakane region, west of the city of Timbuktu on Sunday morning, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Mali reports. The UN has said al-Qaeda hard boyz were active in the area. Last month Timbuktu airport came under rocket attack. La Belle France intervened in Mali in January last year to try to drive out al-Qaeda-linked groups, which had taken over the north of the country. Last month the French government said it was setting up a new military operation to stop the emergence of jihadist groups in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... of Africa. Both ethnic Tuareg separatists and al-Qaeda-linked hard boyz are operating in northern Mali. Tuareg rebels agreed a ceasefire with Mali's government in May, and the two have been holding peace talks in Algeria. Posted by: Fred 2014-08-10 |
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