Mali
23/10/2012 / MALI
Timbuktu: Islamist groups “are preparing for an army intervention”
Last weekend, several hundred jihadists (according to AFP) from Arab countries arrived in the regions of Timbuktu and Gao, in the north of Mali, to bolster the ranks of Islamist groups in preparation for an intervention from a possible international army force. One of our observers in Timbuktu describes the new arrivals. Read more...
Contributors
04/10/2012 / MALI
Islamists in northern Mali execute one of their own under Sharia law
After confessing to having murdered another man, a member of northern Mali’s Islamist movement Ansar Dine was put to death by his own camp in the city of Timbuktu on October 2. Our Observer on the ground was there to photograph the horrifying scene. Read more...
Contributors
28/09/2012 / MALI
Rare photos of Islamist fighters patrolling in northern Mali
One of our Observers in the northern Malian city of Gao managed to take photos of Islamist fighters patrolling the city in pick-up trucks. Since armed Islamist groups took control of the country’s north, images of these fighters have been very difficult to come by. See photos and read more…
Contributors
24/09/2012 / Mali
Out with colour: Islamists force Timbuktu women to wear black veils
To avoid being whipped, mutilated, and jailed, women in Timbuktu now have to wear black veils and loose-fitting clothing. Radical Islamists, who took control of the city months ago, are laying down their law – Sharia law – and for the first time since they’ve arrived, they’re specifically targeting women. Read more…
Contributors
23/08/2012 / MALI
In northern Mali, Islamists strongly encourage getting married – but without music or dancing
In the five months since Islamists have taken over the city of Gao in northern Mali, its residents have learned to live under Sharia law, which at times clashes with the locals’ customs. One of our Observers filmed a wedding during which, in order to avoid trouble, the bride and groom skipped the customary elaborate festivities and held only a religious ceremony. Read more…
Contributors
06/08/2012 / MALI
North Mali villages forced to fend for themselves after Islamist takeover
In the weeks since Islamist forces seized control of northern Mali’s main cities – Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal – several of the region’s more isolated villages have sunk into abject poverty. Our Observer travelled across the north’s Timbuktu region, where many live in towns lacking basic necessities like food and medical care. Read more...
Contributors
30/07/2012 / MALI
Northern Mali: Our Observers report on their first Ramadan under Islamist rule
Local residents had feared that the Islamists who now control northern Mali would make their lives difficult during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims enter a fasting period. However, our Observers in Timbuktu and in Gao report that markets have remained well-stocked, and that the Islamists have been relatively lenient. Read more...
13/07/2012 / MALI
Bamako residents train to "free northern Mali" at civilian boot-camp
Fed up with waiting for inter-regional forces to intervene in northern Mali in order to free it from Islamist control, residents in the capital Bamako have begun training, they say, to take back the territory. Our Observer visited a football pitch in the capital where impromptu training sessions are held. Read more…
Contributors
12/07/2012 / MALI
A Timbuktu resident’s lament: “The radical Islamists are destroying our culture”
Radical Islamists, who took control of Timbuktu in April, have been relentlessly destroying the tombs of Sufi saints, which are the pride of this pious city’s residents. One of our Observers there told us he feels helpless and powerless against the disappearance of ancestral symbols of his culture, which the Islamists consider to be idolatrous. Read more...
Contributors
11/07/2012 / Mali
Exclusive images from northern Mali: Gao’s youth side with Islamists
FRANCE 24 has been sent exclusive images of a youth protest in Gao, in northern Mali, which took place late last month. A large group of young people went out to protest against the separatist, Tuareg-led National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). Organised by a resistance group called “We’re not moving”, the June 26 march was joined by Islamist fighters from the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA). Read more...
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