The French have gone to war

[Cain]

Northern Mali is the target of operations:

President Francois Hollande says French troops are taking part in operations against Islamists in northern Mali.

French troops "have brought support to the Malian army to fight against the terrorists", Mr Hollande said.

He said the intervention was in line with international law, and had been agreed with Malian President Dioncounda Traore.

Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali in April after a coup in the capital, Bamako.

The militants said this week that they had advanced further into government-controlled territory.

Mr Hollande said French military action had begun on Friday afternoon and would last "as long as necessary.

The EU has also committed a force of 200 military trainers for the Malian Army.  I don't know what nationality, but this is almost certainly a NATO approved operation, so Italy, Spain etc are all good bets.

Not sure how ECOWAS will feel about this, though. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Problem with this is, if the French WIN, it's all "Wow.  You beat Mali.  "

And if they lose, it's all "YOU LOST TO MALI!"

[Cain]

The unfortunate paradox of fighting insurgents everywhere.  Even when you win, you lose.

Britain is deploying aircraft to assist in troop and material transport.  Not surprising, since we scrapped our own aircraft carrier, we are reliant on the French for theirs, which means we are tied to the French military's wacky foreign adventures for the near future.

[Cain]

Uh, France, when you fight a war, part of that is to attempt to deny the enemy more territory, not let them grab extra towns:

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Diabaly, 400km (250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, was taken in a counter-attack on Monday.

Mr Le Drian insisted France's campaign was "developing favourably".

He said Islamists had retreated in the east but admitted French forces were facing a "difficult" situation against well-armed rebels in western areas.

Well armed, note, not just from the stockpiles of weapons that crossed the border from Libya, but also by Algeria, which seems to be playing every side against each other in this little drama.

Mauritania too.  I've read rumours that the government there backed elements of the Tuareg rebels, though I'd be surprised if they were keen on the presence of Islamic militants.  Given Mauritania's own racial tensions (which no doubt contributed to their support of the rebels), I doubt they're keen on people who take Islam's racial equality seriously.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Heh.  I love wartime press releases, especially when things aren't going well.  There's a certain type of language that develops to make a defeat sound better.

"The attackers were severely punished in fierce fighting South of <insert town to the North that the defenders swore to hold>", etc.

[Lenin McCarthy]

Even if they eventually take back all the towns, this could still mean years of hide-and-seek fun in the vast northern deserts.

[Cain]

Lolz

French military officials say the Malian army has not recaptured the central town of Konna, contradicting reports from Mali at the weekend.

France launched its military intervention last Friday after Islamists seized Konna and began advancing further south.

After French air strikes began, a Malian military official said the army had brought Konna back under control.

But the defence minister in Paris said it was not in Malian hands.

[Junkenstein]

Anyone thought about asking someone in Konna what's going on? Because at least one of those guys is wrong.

[Cain]

   That's what we have security and military correspondents for: so we don't have to be told distasteful, factual information by people actually living through the experience.

As an aside, I did try a quick look on Twitter, but all I saw was a bunch of white people arguing whether Konna was still in Islamist hands or not.

[Junkenstein]

I know, I just thought the BBC might have more resources than me to fact find.


Once again, I am wrong.

[Cain]

Sorry, all BBC reseachers are currently looking into a story which suggests there has never been a single case of a sexual predator even seen near the offices of the Company or the presence of an employee, let alone actually protected in any way by the corporation.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

Uh, France, when you fight a war, part of that is to attempt to deny the enemy more territory, not let them grab extra towns:

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Diabaly, 400km (250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, was taken in a counter-attack on Monday.

Mr Le Drian insisted France's campaign was "developing favourably".

He said Islamists had retreated in the east but admitted French forces were facing a "difficult" situation against well-armed rebels in western areas.

The radio report I heard today said, "It is not known whether this was a strategic retreat or an actual defeat."

[Junkenstein]

Probably a strategic defeat.

[Cain]

http://africasacountry.com/2013/01/14/france-in-mali-the-end-of-the-fairytale/

The drama of the Islamist offensive should not be underestimated—a successful assault on Sevaré would have meant the loss of the only airstrip in Mali capable of handling heavy cargo planes, apart from that in Bamako. The fall of Sevaré would in turn have made any future military operation a nightmare for West African or other friendly forces, and it would have chased tens of thousands of civilians from their homes.

Hence why the French moved so quickly.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21056592

The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it has killed French intelligence agent Denis Allex in retaliation for a failed French operation to free him.

No prizes for guessing what the French stance is. At least both sides agree that the chap is dead, so it's looking bad for him either way.