Mali: Tuareg rebels take Timbuktu

Coup leaders justified their action by the need to put down Tuareg rebels in the north. However, since the coup the rebels have advanced rapidly through the north..

In Timbuktu government troops fled the advance. Local militias who were guarding businesses apparently mixed with the rebels and did not fight with them. The rebels bombarded an army base but there were no troops there.

Since the coup rebels have advanced quickly taking two main towns in the north Kidal and Gao. Rebels are driving through Timbuktu waving the MNLA (Movement for the Liberation of Azawad) flag.

Timbuktu is almost 1,000 years old. It is on the southern edge of the giant Sahara desert. The town is on key trading routes. It is also noted for Islamic scholarship with over 700 ancient manuscripts in approximately sixty libraries.

The democratically elected president of Mali Amadou Toure is supposedly safe but kept at a secret location by the rebels. The fighting in the north has displaced about 200,000 people adding to the problems in Mali and neighbouring countries. For more see this article.

Do not be surprised if the U.S. intervenes secretly through special forces and drone attacks as the Tuareg fought with Gadaffi and also some rebel groups are associated with Islamic radicals. The U.S. trained the coup leader and supplies the Malian military with military equipment.

Mali: Tuareg rebels threaten northern city

  Tuareg rebels have taken up positions near the city of  Kidal in northern Mali. The Tuareg are a nomadic group who inhabit regions in several countries. The entire region is called by them the Azawad. They have been rebelling for almost a century! See this article for their most recent actions.
    Many of the Tuareg were active in Gadaffi's Libyan armed forces. With the defeat of Gadaffi many have migrated back into the Azawad regions. Some say they have brought with them many weapons. In Mali the rebellion was ended in 2009 but relations between the group and the central government have remained strained.
     Security forces recently in Kidal stopped protests against the arrest of two female members of the Tuareg. The rebels have attacked six towns in the region of late. A rebel spokesperson said  that their strategy was to begin with small towns but that they had the capacity to take larger towns. He said:“Like all the other major towns in the north, Kidal is one of the towns we intend to take over,”“Our strategy has been to attack smaller towns with major military bases first so later we don’t have to worry about attacks coming from many directions." Obviously these clashes could evolve into a major civil war in the north of Mali. For more see this article.