"Battle won in Mali, tough war is yet ahead"
The French and African forces in Mali have carried out a successful offensive and captured big cities in the north of the country.
Monday, 28.01.2013.
14:45
PARIS The French and African forces in Mali have carried out a successful offensive and captured big cities in the north of the country. Timbuktu and Gao are no longer in the hands of Islamist militants, according to reports. "Battle won in Mali, tough war is yet ahead" However, this is only "one battle won, because the war continues and the worst is yet to come - establishing control over a vast desert", the French media are warning on Monday. The Nouvel Observateur newspaper thus writes that the Jihadists in Mali were never expected to be able to stand up to a modern and well-equipped army. It is now only a matter of time before the fall of the third rebel stronghold in the far northeast of the country - the town of Kidal. This, however, does not mean that the war against the rebels has been won, because now that they withdrew from the cities before the French army and the forces of Niger and Chad, the "toughest part follows", since the Jihadists will look to hang on to their positions in the 220,000 sq kilometer desert. According to the newspaper, they have been carefully storing all they could: food supplies, ammunition, fuel, medicines, jeeps and trucks - in short, everything that can be valuable in war, and are now moving mostly toward the desert, while some are headed for Kidal, "and others still maybe toward the mountains in the far north". Some rebels even had to shave their beards and remove their Jihadist fighters' clothes in order to blend in with the locals, with the aim of starting a guerrilla campaign and hit-and-run attacks against the supply line that stretches for hundreds of kilometers, taking advantage of the vastness of the desert. The crown of this expected "asymmetrical war" is likely to be a major attack - "a car bomb or a suicide bomber in Bamako, Gao or Timbuktu", believes the Nouvel Observateur. The French are well aware that the battle that follows will be much longer and more difficult, while the Jihadists will be "on home turf" - but, unlike in Afghanistan, the regular forces will be able to count on the support of the population that is hostile toward the fanatics who held them under a brutal occupation for over a year, the French newspaper writes. (Beta/AP) Tanjug
"Battle won in Mali, tough war is yet ahead"
However, this is only "one battle won, because the war continues and the worst is yet to come - establishing control over a vast desert", the French media are warning on Monday.The Nouvel Observateur newspaper thus writes that the Jihadists in Mali were never expected to be able to stand up to a modern and well-equipped army. It is now only a matter of time before the fall of the third rebel stronghold in the far northeast of the country - the town of Kidal.
This, however, does not mean that the war against the rebels has been won, because now that they withdrew from the cities before the French army and the forces of Niger and Chad, the "toughest part follows", since the Jihadists will look to hang on to their positions in the 220,000 sq kilometer desert.
According to the newspaper, they have been carefully storing all they could: food supplies, ammunition, fuel, medicines, jeeps and trucks - in short, everything that can be valuable in war, and are now moving mostly toward the desert, while some are headed for Kidal, "and others still maybe toward the mountains in the far north".
Some rebels even had to shave their beards and remove their Jihadist fighters' clothes in order to blend in with the locals, with the aim of starting a guerrilla campaign and hit-and-run attacks against the supply line that stretches for hundreds of kilometers, taking advantage of the vastness of the desert.
The crown of this expected "asymmetrical war" is likely to be a major attack - "a car bomb or a suicide bomber in Bamako, Gao or Timbuktu", believes the Nouvel Observateur.
The French are well aware that the battle that follows will be much longer and more difficult, while the Jihadists will be "on home turf" - but, unlike in Afghanistan, the regular forces will be able to count on the support of the population that is hostile toward the fanatics who held them under a brutal occupation for over a year, the French newspaper writes.
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