Mali army 'backed' by French planes in Kona 11JAN13

FRANCE is supporting the government of Mali in it's battle against the al qaeda terrorist who control the northern part of the nation. These islamic extremist are imposing a perverted form of islamic rule on the people of Mali in the parts of the country, restricting the human rights of the people, 90% of whom are Muslim and do not support this twisted, perverted form of "islamic sharia" law. We can only hope the Malian and French forces can prevail and destroy the al qaeda forces in Mali and restore democracy to the nation. From al Jazeera......

Reports say foreign air force jets are assisting Bamako's counter-offensive against al-Qaeda-linked fighters. inSh

More than 1,000 al-Qaeda-linked fighters have been pushing toward the southern part of Mali [AFP]

The Malian army is being backed by French air force planes in a fresh counter-offensive against Islamists, a Mali government official has told the AFP news agency. "European military, including French, are present in Mali to repel any southward advance by the Islamists," a Malian official told AFP on Friday. "We will not reveal their number, nor where they are based, nor what equipment they have. "They are here. We thank these countries who have understood that we are dealing with terrorists," he added. President Francois Hollande said on Friday that France was ready to intervene to stop al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Mali who have been moving toward the capital, Bamako. The forceful yet ambiguous announcement by the leader of France, the former colonial overseer in west Africa and the Western power with the greatest muscle there, came after Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore appealed for French help in stopping the rebels' advance. Efforts to retake the central town of Kona were launched from Sevare, a town about 70km to the south, where the Malian army has a command base. Kona was seized by Islamist armed groups on Thursday and about 1,200 fighters have moved to within 20km of Mopti, a strategically important town on the frontier between rebel-held and government-held territories. Until now, France - like other EU countries - had limited its plans for assistance to training and logistics support for Mali's troubled army, and had deferred to Mali and its African neighbours to resolve the crisis. Earlier, the UN Security Council called for the "rapid deployment" of an African-led international force to Mali. Military solution France has hundreds of troops across western Africa, with bases or sites in places such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Chad and Gabon. The rebels "have even tried to deal a fatal blow to the very existence of Mali", President Hollande said in a speech on Friday to the French diplomatic corps. "France, like its African partners and the entire international community, cannot accept that." France will act under authority of three recent UN Security Council resolutions that call on member states to help Mali resolve its crisis in the face of a terrorist threat, both through political and military means, French diplomats have said. Speaking to the Associated Press news agency after the president's speech, a top French diplomat said his country has completed its deployment of two surveillance drones to the region - to help boost reconnaissance of the rebels' movements and activities. The official said France is now able to deploy military assets "very quickly" and insisted that Hollande's speech was "not just words ... When you say that you are ready to intervene, you have to be." France's position has been complicated because armed groups in northern Mali currently hold seven French hostages. For months, Hollande had explicitly said France would not send ground forces into Mali, but Hollande's speech suggested that French air power could be used - marking a shift from recent public statements from Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that it would not be. Mali was plunged into turmoil after a March coup created a security vacuum. Secular Tuaregs, who have long felt marginalized by Mali's government, took half of the north, as a new homeland. But months later, they were kicked out by Islamist groups allied with al-Qaeda's North Africa branch which have imposed strict Sharia law throughout the north. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013111135659836345.html