A new armed group said to be partially controling Timbuktu
According to several sources, the National Liberation Front of Azawad (FNLA), a new armed group that calls itself secular and non-secessionist, has taken partial control of Timbuktu in northern Mali,
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/A-new-armed-gro...
Besides the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the islamic Ansar Dine and other armed groups who took Timbuktu a new armed movement, the National Liberation Front of Azawad (FNLA), entered the heart of the City Friday, April 27, witnesses said according to AFP.
Created in April, the group does not claim to be secessionist or Islamist. "The Arabs have decided to defend their region," said Mohamed Ould Fany, a leader of this new group, to justify their intervention, AFP reported. They are thought to be five hundred strong and heavily armed and appear to be opposed to independence.
A report in AP notes that Iyad Ag Ghali of Ansar Dine is gaining in influence and enforcing Sharia wherever he holds sway. A former diplmatic representative in Saudi Arabia he has been involved in the Tuareg revolt since 1990 Born in the northeastern town of Kidal near the Algerian border, he is a Tuareg from the Ifora tribe of the Irayakane branch of the desert nomads.He has called for the imposition of Sharia and not for independence which the MNLA support.
He visited Pakistan where his attachment to fundamentalist views took place but it is suggested that his personal ambition may play a strong part in his motivation and he may have also been inspired by the efficiency
of Taliban methods of controlling the population via religious pressure on the population in the North who are mostly moderate muslims. It is his association wih AQIM and its offshoot Mujwa, who have been seen in Timbuktu according to witnesses which most concerns the West.
France and the United States have said they are willing to offer logistical help to the Malian armed forces, though Mali has made no move yet to reclaim the north. Without any outside assistance, Malian government forces are
probvably outgunned .
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said that "everything needs to be done to prevent the creation of an Islamic or a terrorist state in the heart of the Sahel." However he also said that all actions should be left to the UN and he did not forsee a Libyan style intervention by Western forces.
The total number of troops making up Ansar Dine, AQIM and the Tuareg rebels is probably less than 2,000, analysts say but they are skilled in desert warefare and highly manoeverable.
They are also heavily armed with heavy weapons including missiles and multiple rocket launchers liberated from Gaddafi's arsenals when the Nato campaign ended.
They are veterans of Gaddafi's campaigns when they fought for him as part of his armed forces.
Created in April, the group does not claim to be secessionist or Islamist. "The Arabs have decided to defend their region," said Mohamed Ould Fany, a leader of this new group, to justify their intervention, AFP reported. They are thought to be five hundred strong and heavily armed and appear to be opposed to independence.
A report in AP notes that Iyad Ag Ghali of Ansar Dine is gaining in influence and enforcing Sharia wherever he holds sway. A former diplmatic representative in Saudi Arabia he has been involved in the Tuareg revolt since 1990 Born in the northeastern town of Kidal near the Algerian border, he is a Tuareg from the Ifora tribe of the Irayakane branch of the desert nomads.He has called for the imposition of Sharia and not for independence which the MNLA support.
He visited Pakistan where his attachment to fundamentalist views took place but it is suggested that his personal ambition may play a strong part in his motivation and he may have also been inspired by the efficiency
of Taliban methods of controlling the population via religious pressure on the population in the North who are mostly moderate muslims. It is his association wih AQIM and its offshoot Mujwa, who have been seen in Timbuktu according to witnesses which most concerns the West.
France and the United States have said they are willing to offer logistical help to the Malian armed forces, though Mali has made no move yet to reclaim the north. Without any outside assistance, Malian government forces are
probvably outgunned .
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said that "everything needs to be done to prevent the creation of an Islamic or a terrorist state in the heart of the Sahel." However he also said that all actions should be left to the UN and he did not forsee a Libyan style intervention by Western forces.
The total number of troops making up Ansar Dine, AQIM and the Tuareg rebels is probably less than 2,000, analysts say but they are skilled in desert warefare and highly manoeverable.
They are also heavily armed with heavy weapons including missiles and multiple rocket launchers liberated from Gaddafi's arsenals when the Nato campaign ended.
They are veterans of Gaddafi's campaigns when they fought for him as part of his armed forces.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/A-new-armed-gro...