NATO backs France in Mali, but says no aid request

BAMAKO/ BRUSSELS/ MOGADISHU

French Rafale fighter jets taxi on the runway after landing in Ndjamena, Chad before their deployment in Mali, in this picture provided by the French Military Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) and taken on January 13, 2013. Mandatory Credit. REUTERS/Adj. Nicolas-Nelson Richard

NATO said Monday it supported French efforts to turn back the terrorist threat in Mali but that the alliance had received no request for assistance and had not discussed the conflict, AFP has reported.

"We welcome the efforts of the international community in support of the implementation of the United Nations ... resolution 2085 (on Mali)," a NATO spokesman said.

"France has taken swift action to roll back the offensive of the terrorist groups in Mali," the spokesman said.

"We are hopeful that such efforts will help to restore the rule of law in Mali and ... roll back the threat" of groups which threaten the "security and stability of the country, the region and beyond." At the same time, NATO stressed this was a national operation, carried out by France, and there had been no request for assistance nor had there been a "discussion within NATO of this crisis." "So far, the operation in Mali is a national operation in support of Mali. It was decided by the French government ... NATO is not involved in that." On Monday, Islamist forces based in northern Mali vowed to avenge France's fierce military offensive against them after a series of French attacks inflicted heavy casualties.
 
On Sunday, French Rafale fighter planes struck bases used by Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Gao, the main city in northern Mali, and Kidal.

French warplanes also attacked rebel stockpiles of munitions and fuel further north at Afhabo, 50 kilometres from Kidal, a regional security source said. The area is a stronghold of the group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith).

And they hit a base further east at Lere, near the border with Mauritania, according to witnesses and a statement from Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

French soldier wounded in Somalia raid dies: Shebab

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab said Monday a French soldier wounded and captured during a failed hostage rescue raid has died, raising fears in France the rebels would stage a "macabre" display of the deceased, AFP has reported.
 
"The French soldier who was part of the invasion to Somalia died (from) the injury he sustained," Shebab military spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP by telephone.
 
"Our medical staff attempted to help him but he was unlucky," he said, adding that "the Shebab high command will decide on the next step." France's military operation Saturday to free a French spy held hostage by the Shebab since July 2009 was a failure, with another French soldier killed and the fate of the hostage unclear.
 
The French defence ministry Monday expressed fears that the Somali Islamists would put on display the bodies of the French soldier and the hostage, who France believes was killed during the botched operation.

"All indications unfortunately lead us to believe that the Shebab are preparing to organise a disgraceful and macabre display" of the bodies, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

French widen bombing campaign, hit central Mali

French military forces on Monday widened their bombing campaign against Islamic extremists occupying northern Mali, launching airstrikes for the first time in central Mali to combat a new threat as the four-day-old offensive continued to grow, The Associated Press has reported.

Early Monday, an intelligence agent confirmed that shots rang out near the Diabaly military camp in what is still nominally government-held territory, and that soon after, jets were heard overhead, followed by explosions. The agent insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

A Malian commander in the nearby town of Niono said the bombardments did not stop the Islamist fighters and that they occupied Alatona, and on Monday, they succeeded in reaching the north-south road which connects Diabaly to Segou, the administrative capital of central Mali.

By sweeping in from the west the al-Qaida-linked insurgents are now only 400 kilometers from Mali’s capital, Bamako. Before France sent its forces in on Friday to stop a rebel advance, the closest known spot the Islamists were to the capital was 680 kilometers away, though they might have infiltrated closer than that.

Fighter jets late Sunday dropped bombs in the central rice-growing region of Alatona after a rebel convoy was spotted 40 kilometers southeast of Diabaly, until recently the site of a major, U.S.-funded Millenium Challenger Corporation project. The rebels, said a Malian commander in the nearby town of Niono, were trying to reach Diabaly, home to an important Malian military base.

The commander, a major, insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
 
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday that the situation in Mali "is evolving favorably." Speaking after a meeting with the French president, Le Drian said that "in the east the terrorists have been blocked. However, he acknowledged challenges in the west. He did not name Diabaly, but military officials in Mali, say it is near Diabaly that the fiercest fighting is now occurring.

"There is still a difficult spot in the west, where we’re dealing with extremely well-armed groups and where the operations are ongoing at this time," said Le Drian.

Mali’s north, an area the size of France itself, was occupied by al-Qaida-linked rebels nine months ago, following a coup in the capital. For nearly as long, the international community has debated what to do. In December, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a military intervention, but only after an exhaustive list of pre-emptive measures were fulfilled, starting with training the Malian military, which was supposed to take the lead in the offensive.
 
All of that changed in a matter of hours last week, when French intelligence services spotted two rebel convoys heading south, one on the mostly east-west axis of Douentza to the garrison towns of Mopti and Sevare, and a second heading from a locality north of Diabaly toward Segou, the administrative capital of Central Mali.
 
Had either Segou or Mopti fallen, many feared that the Islamists could advance toward the capital.
 
French President Francois Hollande deployed 550 French troops to Mali and authorized the airstrikes which began Friday, initially concentrated in the north. The French are using Mirage jets stationed in Chad, which are able to carry 250-kilogram (550-pound) bombs. They are also using Gazelle helicopter gunships and the Rafale jet, based in France.
 
Britain over the weekend authorized sending several C-17 transport planes to help France bring more troops. The United States is sending drones, as well as communications and logistical support.
 
Since seizing control of Mali’s upper half, the Islamists have imposed an austere form of Islam, foreign to the people of Mali, who have long practiced a moderate religion. They have cut off the hands and feet of thieves, in public spectacles that have left outdoor squares awash in blood. Women live with increasingly less freedom, and are required to fully cover themselves. They have been flogged and whipped for offenses ranging from wearing eyeshadow or perfume, to not covering their hands.