Dozens of high-powerful bombs have been dropped in northern Mali on Sunday by French Special Forces fighting militants in the country.
French forces have been fighting militants in northern Mali since January 2013 and this latest bombing is directed to thwarting the activities of the militants in the area.
The bombs were dropped in the Esssakane region, west of the city of Timbuktu on Sunday morning after drones intelligence have proven that it is a hub for the militants. France started flying drones in northern Mali earlier this year.
The United Nations said last month in its report on Mali that al-Qaeda linked militants are active in northern Mali. And not quite long after the UN’s report, Timbuktu airport came under rocket attack from the militants who tried to take control of the airport.
The French Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian said that his country concern had shifted to Africa’s vast Sahel region include Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad because these countries stability is threatened by militants violence which can badly affect the international community.
“The aim is to prevent what I call the highway of all forms of traffic to become a place of permanent passage, where jihadist groups between Libya and the Atlantic Ocean can rebuild themselves, which would lead to serious consequences for our security”.
“The new operation there would make sure there is no upsurge in terrorism as there are still major risks that jihadists will develop in the zone stretching from the Horn of Africa to Guinea-Bissau”, Le Drian said in a televised interview.
Ethnic Tuareg separatists fighting for independent from Mali are also operating in the area but it is unclear whether they were also targeted in this latest bombing by the French forces.
Local reporters say if the Tuareg separatists are part, it could spark a new violence confrontation in the country because the Tuareg has agreed a ceasefire with the Malian government in May this year. The Malian government and the Tuareg separatists have been holding peace talks in Algeria.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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