generalspeaking

Liberating Diabaly

"After the conquest, we saw the Islamists walking in the street with weapons, but they were not threatening. They told us, 'We are here for Allah and we are here to impose Shariah. From now on, all women must be covered'."
Frandian Bagayoko, Diabaly resident

Diabaly, a Malian village of 35,000, also hosted a military base. A small one, packed with weapons and ammunition. And, of course, troops of the Malian military. Who, as the town was seized by members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, fled. Not satisfied with having taken possession of northern Mali, the jihadists became restive with their success, planning to march forward.

The rest of the country theirs to take. Once again, the Malian military fled the march of AQIM. A new front was opened, it took but several hours. The townspeople were informed that the Islamists were there for the duration. Get used to their presence.  And a day later the French air raids began pounding the town.

"I could see the plane moving like a bird, then it just spat out the bomb", recounted one resident, watching the nearby village of Alatona with the Mirage and Rafale jets flying overhead. It was their fearsome action and apprehensions of an advance by French ground forces already in the town of Niono a mere 60 kilometres away that convinced the Islamists to abandon their immediate plans.

They had ensconced themselves in the town and taken possession of people's homes for five days. The ruins of the military base were left with weapons and ammunition, too great in number for the Islamists, in their haste to leave, to pack with them. Live rounds spilling from canvas bags and ammunition boxes. And fragmentation grenades, unexploded mortar bombs scattered on the ground.

On arrival, the French began the process of using metal detectors to search for booby traps. On streets outside the homes that had been requisitioned stood pick-up trucks. They were blackened, burnt-out, bombed. The sun-baked mud homes had been spared.

"The whole roof of my house shook and I just stood by the wall. I thought I was going to die. I could not believe that the planes has struck these cars without hurting anyone else or collapsing our houses", marvelled one resident.

A Malian army base in Diabaly, taken over by jihadis, which was then bombed by the French on 15 January.

Oddly enough, as they departed the Islamists looted the two pharmacies in the town of all their drugs.
Leaving the weapons, and taking the drugs. "They're bandits, they're terrorists. A good Muslim doesn't steal. A good Muslim doesn't take medicine. This is not what Islam is about", fumed the town's mayor.

Labels: Africa, Conflict, Crisis Politics, France, Islamism, Terrorists

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, January 24, 2013