French forces to combat Mali 'terrorists', says Hollande

French President François Hollande said on Friday that French, Malian and UN forces had launched a large-scale military operation in Mali to combat terrorism and restore stability in the country ahead of legislative electFrench President François Hollande said on Friday that he had ordered a large-scale military operation in Mali to combat terrorism in the region ahead of the country’s legislative elections.

France’s armed forces announced on Thursday that it had launched a significant operation with Malian and United Nations forces to combat the growing presence of Islamist forces in Mali. It is the largest such military action in the country since France carried out an intervention in January 2013, after Islamist forces exploited a rebellion by Tuareg separatists to seize control of the north.

“We never said that our intervention would bring an end to terrorism in the region,” Hollande said at a press conference.

Terrorism taking root

Hollande said that terrorism had taken root across the Sahel, including northern Mali.

“The clearest evidence of this is that there have been several victims of suicide bomb attacks over the past few days, particularly among Chad’s forces,” Holland said, referring to an incident in the northern town of Tessalit on Wednesday, in which a suicide bomber killed two Chadian soldiers and injured six other UN peacekeepers in an attack on a checkpoint.

“I therefore ordered an operation to take out the groups that attacked Tessalit using the French troops still present in Mali – more than 2,500 [men] – and Mali’s armed forces,” Hollande said.

He added that the terrorists’ goal was to destabilise the country ahead of legislative elections on November 24.

“The operation’s goal is to make these elections secure and safe,” Hollande said. “Afterwards, we will reduce our presence and hand over control to United Nations forces.”

Unrest in Mali

Recent months have seen a rise in violence in Mali in the form of both attacks by Islamists, as well as fighting between security forces and Tuareg separatists.  Read Original Post