UN calls to accelerate plans for troop deployment in Mali/ France starts operations

[Commissar MercZ]

Mali, of course, has been very unstable on account of a coup and a secessionist movement in the north, which was in turn overtaken by a salafist-flavored rebel group Ansar Dine. The military-led government came to power after unpopularity from the civilian government's handling of the Tuareg insurrection (exacerbated by returning fighters from Libya who offered services to both sides in that conflict), but they have not done too well either (recently, the PM they appointed was sacked). The MNLA, which initially spearheaded the Tuareg-led rebellion to create an independent Azawad, ended up abandoning its prior claim of independence due to its conflicts with Ansar Dine, leading it to enter into talks with the government.

There has been discussion from the international community on what to do with Mali, as it poses a regional threat if a group like Ansar Dine establishes itself considering its ties to other groups such as al Qaeda in the Maghreb. As such, under the auspices of a UN deployment, a task force comprised of soldiers from African states would be sent in to restore order. The UN Security Council approved of a resolution put forward by France on October 3rd, 2012. The resolution only endorsed the plan however.

The plans for this mission hasn't been hammered out, but the UN wants it to be deployed sooner than later, as the military government in Mali seem to be pressing on France to send them help sooner rather than later.

The UN Security Council has called for the "swift deployment" of an international force to Mali.

The call comes after Islamist militants said they had entered the key central town of Konna, advancing further into government-held territory.

The UN has approved plans to send some 3,000 African troops to Mali to recapture the desert north, which is controlled by the militants.

Mali's president has asked the UN and France for help, diplomats say.

The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, asked whether the Malian President Dioncounda Traore had requested specific kinds of military support, said: "It wasn't specific, but it basically said, 'Help, France!'."
France - the former colonial power - would respond to the request on Friday, France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud said following an emergency meeting of the security council.

For logistical reasons the African force already approved by the UN was not expected to even begin its offensive before September or October, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the UN in New York.

Read more at BBC.

[Serio]

The President of France, Francois Hollande, has confirmed that French troops arrived in Mali this afternoon, to assist the Malian government soldiers against Islamist militants occupying the northern regions of Mali. It's unknown if this means the French soldiers will engage Azawad, the third party in the conflict, as well, as they're supposedly supported by the Ansar Dine.

The conflict began on the 17th of January 2012, when a rebellion broke out in the north-Malian city of Ménaka, creating the "Tuareq State". Over the past year, the conflict has been getting increasingly serious, claiming an increasing number of lives on all sides. Time will tell whether this intervention by France will be a success, or a failure.

Source BBC News - France confirms Mali military intervention

[Commissar MercZ]

I have merged the two threads together as they refer to the same thing. France pushed on the UN to create an African-based force to intervene under UN mandate, but this is a big development that France itself is getting directly involved. It is interested in the West Africa region considering its existing ties with the countries there.

With regards to Ansar Dine, the MNLA, and other groups:

The Tuareg rebellion was spearheaded by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA from the French rendition), which aimed for an independent Tuareg state. There was always agitation from the Tuaregs towards this point since at least the 60s and the MNLA was the center of this in Mali.

The insurrection picked up heat after the Libyan war, since some of the returning fighters brought back weaponry with them. They were able to capture Timbuktu and Goa, where they declared the independent state of Azawad. There is still conflicting reports as to whether during this period Ansar Dine and MNLA cooperated, as there was a document released stating their opposition to the Malian government and their support for the new state, but at any rate MNLA and Ansar Dine began fighting one another shortly afterwards. Ansar Dine ejected MNLA from Gao and Timbuktu which was rather humiliating for them, and since then the MNLA directed their fighters to focus on Ansar Dine rather than the government.

Ideologically they are different of course. MNLA is more nationalist-oriented, and Ansar Dine is obviously rooted in religion. Ansar Dine is more interested in spreading its beliefs rather than notions of Tuareg nationalism and such, as evidenced by their activities in the region and communiques they have released indicating their overall goal.

The MNLA's position currently is unknown as it has not officially backed off on its declaration of independence, but a split from that group (FNLA) sided with the government and abandoned the independence to fight against Ansar Dine.

[MrFancypants]

France sure likes to intervene in Africa. Congo, Ivory Coast, Libya and now Mali. They also have a bunch of troops in several other African countries due to relations dating back to the colonial era.

[Pethegreat]

Originally Posted by MrFancypants

France sure likes to intervene in Africa. Congo, Ivory Coast, Libya and now Mali. They also have a bunch of troops in several other African countries due to relations dating back to the colonial era.

Better France than the US. Glad to see France know how to negotiate with people through bombs and attack helicopters.

[Adrian Ţepeş]

I wonder if they'll bring in any of the FFL guys.

[Rikupsoni]

Well well, now France is getting criticism here though the intervention is done on the request of the legitimate government and accepted by the neighbouring countries as well? Might as well remember that these Islamists were destroying world heritage sites a couple of months ago, including mosques from the 15th Century.

Apparently the Tuaregs and Islamists are Arabs and Berbers, and the government supporters are mostly black Africans who are Muslims as well. I wonder if the violence is then based on this to some extent, or if most government-supporting Muslims are adherents of the mystical Sufism branch of Islam and thus disliked by fundamentalists.

The neighbouring country Mauritania has a history of racist Arabization since the 1980s, eventhough the blacks there are Muslims as well.

Quite surprising to see France act this quickly, but it's a good thing. I guess they get some UN backing as well, which would be excellent and a good reason for why the UN should exist. The International Criminal Court already in July called the destruction of patrimonies a possible war crime, and Mali is a signatory.

[Commissar MercZ]

The United States Secretary of Defense is stating that they can provide "logistical and intelligence" support for France and the African force (via ECOWAS) that is set to enter into the country soon. IE drones and use of airbases. Other places are saying the US has already committed to this, I'm not quite clear on what happens.

The ECOWAS unit is preparing to deploy into Mali "within days". The force is led by one "General Shehu Abdulkadir", presumably a Nigerian as the thrust of the ECOWAS force is from Nigeria and much of its manpower is from them too. IIRC ECOWAS was discussing some sort of aid to the Malian government for a long time but never could get it off the ground, but this is supposed to be deployed under the UN Security Council Resolution 2085. I'm assuming that now with the support of a power, ECOWAS nations are more confident in deploying their men and resources.

[Commissar MercZ]

It has been reported that French forces working with Malian soldiers have engaged in the first direct ground combat with Ansar Dine militia in the north.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/wo...ervention.html

Spoiler:

French and Malian Troops Confront Islamists in Seized Mali Village
By ADAM NOSSITER, ALAN COWELL and ERIC SCHMITT

BAMAKO, Mali — French soldiers encircled a desert village in central Mali on Wednesday, a Malian Army colonel said, in the first direct operations involving Western troops since France began its military campaign here last week to help wrest this nation back from a militant advance.

The Malian colonel said his army’s ground troops had joined the French forces and ringed the village of Diabaly, which Islamist fighters had seized the day before. Now, he said, they were engaged in trying to extricate the militants, who had taken over homes and ensconced themselves.

“It’s a very specialized kind of war,” said the colonel, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The town is surrounded.”

French officials have been cautious about saying exactly when the ground combat would begin. On Wednesday, a senior French defense official confirmed that a detachment of about 100 members of the French special forces were approaching Diabaly, about 250 miles north of the capital, in an effort to halt an insurgent move south and take back the town. But the official refused to confirm that an assault was yet under way.

The ground fighting expands the confrontation between the Islamists and the French forces, who have previously conducted aerial assaults after President François Hollande of France ordered an intervention in Mali last Friday to thwart a broader push by Islamist rebels controlling the north of the country.

The broadening of the military conflict came as an Algerian government official and the country’s state-run news agency said that Islamist militants had seized a foreign-run gas field near the Algeria-Libya border, hundreds of miles away, taking at least 20 foreign hostages, including Americans, in retaliation for the French intervention in Mali and for Algeria’s cooperation in that effort.

The Algerian agency said at least at least two people had been killed in the gas-field seizure, including one British national, and that the hostages included American, British, French, Norwegian and Japanese citizens.

Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, told reporters in Washington, “The best information that we have at this time is that U.S. citizens are among the hostages.”

Japanese officials acknowledged that Japanese citizens were involved in the hostage situation, and the Irish foreign ministry said one Irish citizen had been kidnapped. The British foreign office also said in a statement that “British nationals are caught up in this incident,” which it described as “ongoing.”

The twin developments underscored an earlier acknowledgment from French officials that the military campaign to turn back the Islamists and drive them from their redoubts in northern Malian desert would be a protracted and complicated one.

“The combat continues and it will be long, I imagine,” the French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said Wednesday on RTL radio. “Today the ground forces are in the process of deploying,” he said. “Now the French forces are reaching the north.”

Adm. Edouard Guillaud, the French chief of staff, told Europe 1 television that ground operations began overnight.

He accused jihadists of using civilians as human shields and said, “We refuse to put the population at risk. If there is doubt, we will not fire.”

In Paris, Mr. Hollande said Wednesday that he took the decision to intervene last Friday because it was necessary. If he had not done so, it would have been too late. “Mali would have been entirely conquered and the terrorists would today be in a position of strength."

On Tuesday, witnesses in Mali reported, the insurgents had regrouped after French airstrikes and embedded themselves among the population of Diabaly, hiding in the mud and brick houses in the battle zone and thwarting attacks by French warplanes to dislodge them.

“They are in the town, almost everywhere in the town,” said Bekaye Diarra, who owns a pharmacy in Diabaly, which remained under the control of insurgents. “They are installing themselves.”

Benco Ba, a parliamentary deputy there, said residents were fearful of the conflict that had descended on them. “The jihadists are going right into people’s families,” he said. “They have completely occupied the town. They are dispersed. It’s fear, ” he said, as it became

clear that airstrikes alone will probably not be enough to root out these battle-hardened insurgents, who know well the harsh grassland and desert terrain of Mali.

Containing the rebels’ southern advance toward Bamako is proving more challenging than anticipated, French military officials have acknowledged. And with the Malian Army in disarray and no outside African force yet assembled, displacing the rebels from the country altogether appears to be an elusive, long-term challenge.

The jihadists were “dug in” at Diabaly, Defense Minister Le Drian said Tuesday at a news conference. From that strategic town, they “threaten the south,” he said, adding: “We face a well-armed and determined adversary.”

Mr. Le Drian also acknowledged that the Malian Army had not managed to retake the town of Konna, whose seizure by the rebels a week ago provoked the French intervention. “We will continue the strikes to diminish their potential,” the minister said.

Using advanced attack planes and sophisticated military helicopters, the French campaign has forced the Islamists from important northern towns like Gao and Douentza. But residents there say that while the insurgents suffered losses, many of them had simply gone into the nearby bush.

Analysts said that while forcing the insurgents from the cities was achievable, eliminating them altogether would require considerable additional effort.

“You can’t launch a war of extermination against a very tenacious and mobile adversary,” said Col. Michel Goya of the French Military Academy’s Strategic Research Institute. “We are in a classic counterinsurrectionary situation. They are well armed, but the weapons are not sophisticated. A couple of thousand men, very mobile.”

While striking the Islamists from the air, France has been steadily building up its forces on the ground: 200 more soldiers and 60 armored vehicles arrived in Mali overnight on Tuesday from Ivory Coast, bringing the total to nearly 800 soldiers. The French Defense Ministry said the force would soon number 2,500, in the vicinity of its peak Afghanistan deployment.

France is the former colonial power in Mali, and Mr. Le Drian has said it intervened to prevent the possible collapse of Mali’s government and “the establishment of a terrorist state within range of Europe and of France.” The French mission is aimed at supporting an African force that is still being assembled and that French officials said could begin to deploy in as soon as a week. The United States has also committed its support to the French mission.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, traveling in Spain, said that France faced a difficult task in taking on the extremists and that the Pentagon remained in talks with the French about what sort of aid was required.

The implications of the nascent French deployment — and of the Islamist takeover of Diabaly, only about 220 miles from the capital here — seem clear: rooting out the few thousand insurgents could well be a slog.

The Islamists are well armed, with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns mounted on vehicles, as well as some armored personnel carriers seized from the Malian military last year.

In the initial clashes, allied officials said, French airstrikes inflicted heavy losses on Islamist columns that could be easily identified and attacked as they advanced on roads. That led to some optimistic assessments of a rout.

But a military spokesman for the French operation in Mali said Tuesday that the Islamists had taken more territory since the French air raid began because the fighters were mixing in with the population and making it difficult to bomb without causing civilian casualties.

“It’s really much too soon to tell how this fight will turn out,” said an American official who has been surveying the battle from afar.

Adam Nossiter reported from Bamako, Mali; Alan Cowell from Paris; and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Steven Erlanger and Scott Sayare from Paris, Julia Werdigier from London, and Elisabeth Bumiller from Madrid.

It is also mentioned in that article that an insurgent group in Algeria took hostages at an oil field, several of them foreign citizens including Americans. More of that here. Another example I guess of the side effects of a conflict in Libya, with weaponry being picked up by groups in the region.

[Adrian Ţepeş]

On a side note, I thought this was kind of funny: