7/27/2019 Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hide in High Sahara

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mali-war-shifts-as-rebels-hide-in-high-sahara 1/4

Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hidein High Sahara

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

 A fish market in Konna, Mali, that had been occupied by Islamist rebels It was the sei!ure of Konna, in the Mopti re"ion, that pro#oked $rance%s military inter#ention last month

&y A'AM N())IT*+ and *T*+ TINTI

ublished- $ebruary ., 012 3The New York Times4DAKAR, Senegal — Just as Al Qaeda once sought refuge in the mountains of Tora ora, the !slamist militants no" on the run inMali are hiding out

in their o"n forbidding landsca#e, a rugged, roc$% e&#anse in northeastern Mali that has become a s%mbol of the continued challenges facing the

international effort to stabili'e the Sahara(

)&#elling the !slamist militants from Timbu$tu and other northern Malian to"ns, as the *rench

did s"iftl%  last month, ma% ha+e been the eas% #art of reta$ing Mali, sa% militar% officials,

anal%sts and local fighters( Attention is no" being focused on one of Africas harshest and least-

$no"n mountain ranges, the Adrar des !foghas(

The *rench militar% has carried out about ./ airstri$es in recent da%s in those mountains,

including attac$s on training cam#s and arms de#ots, officials said( 0n Thursda%, a column of

soldiers from 1had, +ersed in desert "arfare, left Kidal, a diminuti+e, sand-blo"n regional

ca#ital, to #enetrate dee# into the Adrar, said a s#o$esman for the Tuareg fighters "ho

accom#anied them(

7/27/2019 Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hide in High Sahara

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mali-war-shifts-as-rebels-hide-in-high-sahara 2/4

2These mountains are e&tremel% difficult for foreign armies,3 said the s#o$esman, ac$a% Ag

Hamed Ahmed, of the 4ational Mo+ement for the 5iberation of A'a"ad, in a tele#hone

inter+ie" from Kidal( 2The 1hadians, the% dont $no" the routes through them(3

These areas of grottoes and roc$% hills, long a retreat for Tuareg nomads from the region and

more recentl% for e&tremists from  Al Qaeda in the !slamic Maghreb, "ill be the scene of the

critical ne&t #hase in the conflict( !t "ill be the #lace "here the !slamist militants are finall%

defeated or "here the% sli# a"a% to fight again, militar% anal%sts sa%(

*rench s#ecial forces are +er% li$el% alread% o#erating in the Adrar des !foghas, #erforming

reconnaissance and #erha#s #re#aring rescue o#erations for *rench hostages belie+ed to be held

in the area, said 6en( Jean-1laude Allard, a senior researcher at the !nstitute for !nternational

and Strategic Relations in 7aris( ut African forces are li$el% to be assigned the brunt of the

combat o#erations, going 2from "ell to "ell, from +illage to +illage,3 6eneral Allard said(

The fe" Westerners "ho ha+e tra+eled in this inaccessible region bordering Algeria sa% it differs

from Afghanistan in that the mountains are relati+el% modest in si'e( ut its harsh conditions

ma$e it a +ast natural fortress, "ith innumerable hide-outs(

2The terrain is +ast and com#licated,3 said 1ol( Michel 6o%a of the *rench Militar% Academ%s

Strategic Research !nstitute( 2!t "ill re8uire troo#s to seal off the 'one, and then troo#s for raids(

This "ill ta$e time(3

The number of militants "ho remain is in dis#ute, "ith estimates +ar%ing from a fe" hundred

fighters to a fe" thousand( The% are becoming more dis#ersed and are hiding themsel+es e+er

more effecti+el%, Western militar% officials sa%(

The *rench militar% has been fl%ing fe"er sorties o+er the region in recent da%s, 2from "hich !

deduce a lac$ of targets,3 said a Western militar% attach9 in ama$o, Malis ca#ital, "ho "as not

authori'ed to s#ea$ on the record( 2The% are :ust not finding the same targets( 1learl% the% are

hiding better and dis#ersing more "idel%(3

 A ran$ing Malian officer stationed in the northern to"n of 6ao said; 2We dont $no" ho" man%

there are( The% ha+e learned to hide "here the *rench cant find them(3

The militants are +ersed in sur+i+al tactics in the hills, su##l%ing themsel+es from the nomads

 "ho #ass through and getting "ater from the numerous "ells and #onds, said 7ierre oille%, an

e&#ert on the region from the Sorbonne( Still, the sources of "ater are an o##ortunit% for the

*rench and 1hadian forces, as the% can be monitored "ithout too much difficult%, e&#erts said(

7/27/2019 Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hide in High Sahara

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mali-war-shifts-as-rebels-hide-in-high-sahara 3/4

2!ts a sort of obser+ation to"er on the "hole of the Sahara,3 6eneral Allard said( The fighters

ha+e had %ears to build installations, modif% ca+es, and stoc$ food, "ea#ons and fuel, he said,

and the #recise locations of their refuges remain a m%ster%(

)+en if the bul$ of the militants ha+e retreated into the mountains, #oc$ets remain around the

liberated to"ns of Timbu$tu and 6ao, said a *rench militar% s#o$esman, 1ol( Thierr% ur$hard(

5ast "ee$, *rench forces #atrolling the area around 6ao engaged in firefights "ith militants,

some of "hom fired roc$ets, officials said(

2Were encountering residual :ihadist grou#s that are fighting,3 said Jean-<+es 5e Drian,

*rances defense minister(

0n *rida%, a suicide bomber ble" himself u# at a militar% chec$#oint in 6ao, "ounding a

soldier, an act that #ro+ided further e+idence of the continued threat of the militants(

The attac$, from an insurgent re#orted to ha+e ties to the militants "ho carried out the recent

hostage-ta$ing on the internationall% managed gas field in eastern Algeria, could signal the

o#ening of a cam#aign against *rench and African forces, a senior =nited States intelligence

official said *rida%(

2This is "hat the%re going to do — !()(D(s and small attac$s,3 said the official, "ho s#o$e on the

condition of anon%mit%, referring to im#ro+ised e&#losi+e de+ices, the homemade bombs that

 "ere the hallmar$ of insurgencies in !ra8 and Afghanistan(

 With *rance insisting that its #resence in the countr% "ill be short-li+ed, more attention has

 been focused on the liabilities of the tattered Malian Arm% and troo#s de#lo%ed from

neighboring countries(

0n *rida%, there "ere clashes bet"een ri+al factions of the Malian Arm% in ama$o, "ith

gunfire heard echoing from a barrac$s of #aratroo#ers hostile to the element that su##orted a

militar% cou# in March(

 About .,/// troo#s from neighboring countries ha+e arri+ed, e+entuall% to re#lace *rench

troo#s( A Western militar% official in ama$o said, 2There is a difference bet"een them

o#erating in a theater under *rench control and one "here the *rench ha+e disengaged(3

4or ha+e the militants been com#letel% flushed out of the to"ns that *rance has claimed to ha+e

liberated(

 Amid concerns of +iolent score-settling, local officials in 6ao ha+e broadcast radio messages

o+er the #ast >/ da%s as$ing for the citi'ens to re#ort sus#ects to state authorities rather than

ta$e matters into their o"n hands( 1ommunit% leaders, including local chiefs, %outh grou#s and

imams, ha+e held meetings to discourage acts of +engeance(

7/27/2019 Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hide in High Sahara

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mali-war-shifts-as-rebels-hide-in-high-sahara 4/4

!n one e#isode on Jan( .?, a cro"d encircled an alread% bloodied militant "hose comrades had

recentl% abandoned 6ao, recalled Dani Sidi Tour9, a resident "ho "as one of those intent on

re+enge(

2He said, @7lease, for Allahs sa$e, do not $ill me, 3 Mr( Tour9 said( 2And then ! too$ m%

scre"dri+er and stabbed him in the nec$(3

0thers :oined in the attac$( 2When ! tried to #ull the scre"dri+er out, the handle came off but

the metal sta%ed inside him,3 he continued( 2A man "ith a big $nife came o+er and cho##ed him

on his head( He fell to the ground, and others came "ith #ieces of "ood and big stones and

started beating him(3

 American officials monitoring the situation from afar said that the e&tremists "ho once

controlled much of northern Mali "ould be difficult to eliminate from the region entirel%(

2Realisticall%, #robabl% the best %ou can get is containment and disru#tion so that Al Qaeda is

no longer able to control territor%,3 6en( 1arter *( Ham, the head of the 7entagons Africa

1ommand, said in a s#eech in Washington last month(

The authorities are in+estigating numerous other sus#ected militants as local citi'ens #atrols

circulate in search of the e&tremists and their allies, "hich at one time included the Tuaregs(