Troops from Mali's neighbors expected to join French

2013-01-13 22:33:29 GMT2013-01-14 06:33:29(Beijing Time) ?SINA.com

The first days of a battle against Islamic extremists holding Mali's north have left at least 11 civilians dead, including three children who threw themselves into a river and drowned trying to avoid falling bombs, a presidential spokesman said yesterday.

Troops from Mali's neighbors are expected to join hundreds of French soldiers in the fight.

Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria agreed on Saturday to send soldiers, a day after France authorized airstrikes, sending fighter jets from neighboring Chad and bombing rebel positions north of Mopti, the last government-controlled town.

The African troops were expected to begin arriving yesterday. Britain offered the use of its transport planes in order to help bring in the soldiers, according to a statement released by Prime Minister David Cameron's office.

The African soldiers will work alongside French special forces, including a contingent that arrived in the capital, Bamako, on Saturday to secure the capital against retaliatory attacks by the al-Qaida-linked rebel groups occupying Mali's northern half.

Yesterday, French fighter jets pounded an Islamist rebel stronghold in the north.

The attack on Gao, the largest city in the desert region controlled by the Islamist alliance, marked a decisive drive northwards on the third day of French air strikes, moving deep into the vast territory seized by rebels in April.

France is determined to end Islamist domination of north Mali, which many fear could act as a base for attacks on the West.

In Gao, a dusty town on the banks of the Niger river where Islamists have imposed an extreme form of Sharia law, residents said French fighters and attack helicopters pounded the airport and rebel positions. A huge cloud of black smoke rose from the militants' camp in the north of the city.

A Malian rebel spokesman said the French had also bombed targets in the towns of Lere and Douentza.

France has deployed about 550 soldiers to Mali, split between Bamako and the town of Mopti, 500 kilometers north, Le Drian said.

French President Francois Hollande's intervention in Mali has won plaudits from leaders in Europe, Africa and the United States, but it is not without risks.

It raised the risk level for eight French hostages held by al-Qaida allies in the Sahara and for the 30,000 French expats living in neighboring, mostly Muslim states.

The military operation began Friday, after the fall of the town of Konna on Thursday to the al-Qaida-linked groups. Konna is only 50 kilometers north of the government's line of control, which begins at the town of Mopti,

A communique read on state television on Saturday said that at least 11 Malians were killed in Konna.

Sory Diakite, the mayor of Konna, said the dead included children who drowned after they threw themselves into a river to escape the bombardment.

"Others were killed inside their courtyards, or outside their homes. People were trying to flee to find refuge. Some drowned in the river. At least three children threw themselves in the river. They were trying to swim to the other side," the mayor said.

(Agencies)

Source: http://english.sina.com/world/2013/0113/548260.html

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