Mali War Shifts as Rebels Hide

in High Sahara
Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
A fish market in Konna, Mali, that had been occupied by Islamist rebels It was the sei!ure of Konna, in the Mopti re"ion, that pro#oked $rance%s military inter#ention last month
&y A'AM N())IT*+ and ,*T*+ TINTI
,ublished- $ebruary ., /012 3The New York Times4
DAKAR, Senegal Just as Al Qaeda once sought refuge in the mountains of Tora ora, the !slamist militants no" on the run inMali are hiding out
in their o"n forbidding landsca#e, a rugged, roc$% e&#anse in northeastern Mali that has become a s%mbol of the continued challenges facing the
international effort to stabili'e the Sahara(
)&#elling the !slamist militants from Timbu$tu and other northern Malian to"ns, as the *rench
did s"iftl% last month, ma% ha+e been the eas% #art of reta$ing Mali, sa% militar% officials,
anal%sts and local fighters( Attention is no" being focused on one of Africa,s harshest and least-
$no"n mountain ranges, the Adrar des !foghas(
The *rench militar% has carried out about ./ airstri$es in recent da%s in those mountains,
including attac$s on training cam#s and arms de#ots, officials said( 0n Thursda%, a column of
soldiers from 1had, +ersed in desert "arfare, left Kidal, a diminuti+e, sand-blo"n regional
ca#ital, to #enetrate dee# into the Adrar, said a s#o$esman for the Tuareg fighters "ho
accom#anied them(
2These mountains are e&tremel% difficult for foreign armies,3 said the s#o$esman, ac$a% Ag
Hamed Ahmed, of the 4ational Mo+ement for the 5iberation of A'a"ad, in a tele#hone
inter+ie" from Kidal( 2The 1hadians, the% don,t $no" the routes through them(3
These areas of grottoes and roc$% hills, long a retreat for Tuareg nomads from the region and
more recentl% for e&tremists from Al Qaeda in the !slamic Maghreb, "ill be the scene of the
critical ne&t #hase in the conflict( !t "ill be the #lace "here the !slamist militants are finall%
defeated or "here the% sli# a"a% to fight again, militar% anal%sts sa%(
*rench s#ecial forces are +er% li$el% alread% o#erating in the Adrar des !foghas, #erforming
reconnaissance and #erha#s #re#aring rescue o#erations for *rench hostages belie+ed to be held
in the area, said 6en( Jean-1laude Allard, a senior researcher at the !nstitute for !nternational
and Strategic Relations in 7aris( ut African forces are li$el% to be assigned the brunt of the
combat o#erations, going 2from "ell to "ell, from +illage to +illage,3 6eneral Allard said(
The fe" Westerners "ho ha+e tra+eled in this inaccessible region bordering Algeria sa% it differs
from Afghanistan in that the mountains are relati+el% modest in si'e( ut its harsh conditions
ma$e it a +ast natural fortress, "ith innumerable hide-outs(
2The terrain is +ast and com#licated,3 said 1ol( Michel 6o%a of the *rench Militar% Academ%,s
Strategic Research !nstitute( 2!t "ill re8uire troo#s to seal off the 'one, and then troo#s for raids(
This "ill ta$e time(3
The number of militants "ho remain is in dis#ute, "ith estimates +ar%ing from a fe" hundred
fighters to a fe" thousand( The% are becoming more dis#ersed and are hiding themsel+es e+er
more effecti+el%, Western militar% officials sa%(
The *rench militar% has been fl%ing fe"er sorties o+er the region in recent da%s, 2from "hich !
deduce a lac$ of targets,3 said a Western militar% attach9 in ama$o, Mali,s ca#ital, "ho "as not
authori'ed to s#ea$ on the record( 2The% are :ust not finding the same targets( 1learl% the% are
hiding better and dis#ersing more "idel%(3
A ran$ing Malian officer stationed in the northern to"n of 6ao said; 2We don,t $no" ho" man%
there are( The% ha+e learned to hide "here the *rench can,t find them(3
The militants are +ersed in sur+i+al tactics in the hills, su##l%ing themsel+es from the nomads
"ho #ass through and getting "ater from the numerous "ells and #onds, said 7ierre oille%, an
e&#ert on the region from the Sorbonne( Still, the sources of "ater are an o##ortunit% for the
*rench and 1hadian forces, as the% can be monitored "ithout too much difficult%, e&#erts said(
2!t,s a sort of obser+ation to"er on the "hole of the Sahara,3 6eneral Allard said( The fighters
ha+e had %ears to build installations, modif% ca+es, and stoc$ food, "ea#ons and fuel, he said,
and the #recise locations of their refuges remain a m%ster%(
)+en if the bul$ of the militants ha+e retreated into the mountains, #oc$ets remain around the
liberated to"ns of Timbu$tu and 6ao, said a *rench militar% s#o$esman, 1ol( Thierr% ur$hard(
5ast "ee$, *rench forces #atrolling the area around 6ao engaged in firefights "ith militants,
some of "hom fired roc$ets, officials said(
2We,re encountering residual :ihadist grou#s that are fighting,3 said Jean-<+es 5e Drian,
*rance,s defense minister(
0n *rida%, a suicide bomber ble" himself u# at a militar% chec$#oint in 6ao, "ounding a
soldier, an act that #ro+ided further e+idence of the continued threat of the militants(
The attac$, from an insurgent re#orted to ha+e ties to the militants "ho carried out the recent
hostage-ta$ing on the internationall% managed gas field in eastern Algeria, could signal the
o#ening of a cam#aign against *rench and African forces, a senior =nited States intelligence
official said *rida%(
2This is "hat the%,re going to do !()(D(,s and small attac$s,3 said the official, "ho s#o$e on the
condition of anon%mit%, referring to im#ro+ised e&#losi+e de+ices, the homemade bombs that
"ere the hallmar$ of insurgencies in !ra8 and Afghanistan(
With *rance insisting that its #resence in the countr% "ill be short-li+ed, more attention has
been focused on the liabilities of the tattered Malian Arm% and troo#s de#lo%ed from
neighboring countries(
0n *rida%, there "ere clashes bet"een ri+al factions of the Malian Arm% in ama$o, "ith
gunfire heard echoing from a barrac$s of #aratroo#ers hostile to the element that su##orted a
militar% cou# in March(
About .,/// troo#s from neighboring countries ha+e arri+ed, e+entuall% to re#lace *rench
troo#s( A Western militar% official in ama$o said, 2There is a difference bet"een them
o#erating in a theater under *rench control and one "here the *rench ha+e disengaged(3
4or ha+e the militants been com#letel% flushed out of the to"ns that *rance has claimed to ha+e
liberated(
Amid concerns of +iolent score-settling, local officials in 6ao ha+e broadcast radio messages
o+er the #ast >/ da%s as$ing for the citi'ens to re#ort sus#ects to state authorities rather than
ta$e matters into their o"n hands( 1ommunit% leaders, including local chiefs, %outh grou#s and
imams, ha+e held meetings to discourage acts of +engeance(
!n one e#isode on Jan( .?, a cro"d encircled an alread% bloodied militant "hose comrades had
recentl% abandoned 6ao, recalled Dani Sidi Tour9, a resident "ho "as one of those intent on
re+enge(
2He said, @7lease, for Allah,s sa$e, do not $ill me,, 3 Mr( Tour9 said( 2And then ! too$ m%
scre"dri+er and stabbed him in the nec$(3
0thers :oined in the attac$( 2When ! tried to #ull the scre"dri+er out, the handle came off but
the metal sta%ed inside him,3 he continued( 2A man "ith a big $nife came o+er and cho##ed him
on his head( He fell to the ground, and others came "ith #ieces of "ood and big stones and
started beating him(3
American officials monitoring the situation from afar said that the e&tremists "ho once
controlled much of northern Mali "ould be difficult to eliminate from the region entirel%(
2Realisticall%, #robabl% the best %ou can get is containment and disru#tion so that Al Qaeda is
no longer able to control territor%,3 6en( 1arter *( Ham, the head of the 7entagon,s Africa
1ommand, said in a s#eech in Washington last month(
The authorities are in+estigating numerous other sus#ected militants as local citi'ens, #atrols
circulate in search of the e&tremists and their allies, "hich at one time included the Tuaregs(