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The
military operation in Mali launched on January 11 is another vivid example of
special activities aimed at recolonization of the African continent. It’s an
orderly and consistent capture of new African territories by Western powers.
They have got hold of Sudan by dismembering it (taking away the oil deposits
from the major part of the country), the Nigerian oilfields have been captured
in accordance with the International Court of Justice rulings, (1), Libya has
been captured as a result of direct military intervention, Cote D’Ivoire has
been conquered thanks to a small-scale military action conducted under the
aegis of the United Nations. The way to do the things differ, but the result is
the same. The process of recolonization picks up momentum in Africa…
Only
thirteen days after starting a war in Mali, France is massively escalating its
troop presence there, even as reports emerge of escalating ethnic killings by
French-backed Malian troops.
On
Tuesday the Malian regime extended the state of emergency declared on January
11 for three months. At the same time, French and Malian troops set up
positions in central Mali around the strategic airfield at Sévaré.
The
airfield was reportedly the main initial target of the French intervention.
Paris wanted to keep it from falling into the hands of the northern-based
Malian opposition, so France could use the airfield to fly troops and equipment
into the region.
French
forces are also blocking journalists from reporting from the war zone, to slow
the stream of reports of killings of and atrocities against civilians by French
and French-backed Malian forces. In Sévaré, at least 11 people were killed at a
military camp, near its bus station and its hospital. “Credible information”
pointed to about 20 other executions, with the bodies “buried hastily, notably in
wells,” the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) reported.
A
witness said the Malian army “gathered all the people who didn’t have national
identity cards and the people they suspected of being close to the Islamists to
execute them, and put them in two different wells near a bus station.” The
soldiers allegedly poured gasoline into the wells and set them ablaze to hide
the evidence.
Residents
of Mopti in central Mali said that the Malian army had arrested, interrogated,
and tortured innocent civilians, because the army thought that they were
involved in the rebellion. Many Tuareg, who originally controlled the north,
fled south when the Islamists took over and are being singled out for
reprisals. Amnesty International claims to have evidence of extrajudicial
killings of Tuareg civilians, the indiscriminate shelling of a Tuareg camp, and
the killing of livestock.
A
woman of the Fulani ethnic group described her situation: “The army suspects
us—if we look like Fulani and don’t have an identity card, they kill us. But
many people are born in small villages and it’s very difficult to have
identification. We are all afraid. There are some households where Fulanis or
others who are fair-skinned don’t go out any more. We have stopped wearing our
traditional clothes—we are being forced to abandon our culture, and to stay
indoors.”
The
Malian army has a record of ethnic killings. Last September a truck with
eighteen preachers from Mauritania crossed the border at Diabaly on their way
to Bamako for a conference. Though none were armed and they had papers
indicating their mission, all were massacred by the troops manning the border
checkpoint.
Asked
about abuses committed by Malian forces in an interview Wednesday on France 24
television, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian cynically commented,
“There’s a risk.”
Amateur
cell phone videos on the internet show huge blasts and fireballs in living
areas, and bloggers from Mali are reporting numerous casualties. The United
Nations has reported that thousands of people have been forced from their homes
over the past ten days. An estimated 230,000 people are now displaced across
the country. According to Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the United
Nations’ refugee agency, the violence could soon displace up to 700,000 in Mali
and around the region.
The
Norwegian Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reported that people in the
north were increasingly heading into the desert, as Algeria had closed its
borders. Many are fleeing on foot because they cannot afford boats or buses.
Sory
Diakite, the mayor of Konna, who fled to Bamako with his family after a French
raid, described the bombing of his town. He said that during the assault in the
first days of the war, people “were killed inside their courtyards, or outside
their homes. People were trying to flee to find refuge. Some drowned in the
river. At least three children threw themselves in the river in order to avoid
the bombs. They were trying to swim to the other side.”
The
constant increase in the number of soldiers, the massive build-up of
ever-deadlier weapons and the increasing willingness of its allies to step up
their support signify that such violence will only continue to escalate.
France
is deploying more soldiers and more high-tech weaponry. Some 2,150 French
soldiers are in Mali, and their number will rise to 5,000 by the end of the
month.
The
African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) will comprise almost
6,000 soldiers, instead of the initially planned 3,300 soldiers, costing around
$500 million.
The
Gazelle helicopters that participated in the first wave of French air attacks
are being replaced by Tiger helicopter gunships, which have a longer range and
greater firepower. “Cheetah” units based in France have been placed on alert,
including a number of Leclerc heavy tanks and units armed with truck-mounted
155-millimeter artillery pieces.
So
far nearly 1,000 African troops from Benin, Nigeria, Togo and Burkina Faso have
arrived in Mali. Senegalese troops and up to 2,000 soldiers from Chad are on
the way. Their transport is being provided by France’s allies: Denmark,
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Emirates, and Canada.
Italy approved sending 15 to 24 military instructors to work alongside the
European Union (EU) in training Malian forces and also agreed to provide
logistical support with at least two cargo planes.
US
forces began their mission in support of the Mali war on Monday. Five four-engine
C-17 planes took off from the Istres-LeTubé airbase in southern France, loaded
with French cargo which they dropped off in the Malian capital, Bamako.
According
to German news magazine Der Spiegel, British forces were on “high alert” for
possible deployment in Mali, in case France asks for help. The British foreign
ministry denied the report, however.
Yesterday
French Rafale and Mirage jets bombed targets near Gao, Timbuktu and Ansongo, a
town near the border with Niger. Col. Oumar Kande, ECOWAS military and security
adviser in Mali, said, “It is possible we will win back Timbuktu, Gao, and
Kidal in a month, but it is impossible to say how long the overall war will
last.”
Kande’s
words are in line with remarks by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who
said that the Mali war might last years or decades.
