Al Jazeera.
Rebels have grabbed more territory in Mali, inching closer to the
capital despite intensive aerial bombardments by
French warplanes, French and Malian authorities have said.
The al-Qaeda-linked rebels overran the garrison village of Diabaly in
central Mali, France's defence minister said in Paris on Monday.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said the rebels "took Diabaly after fierce
fighting and resistance from the Malian army that couldn't hold them
back"'.
The Malian military is in disarray and has let many towns fall with
barely a shot fired since the insurgency began almost a year ago in the
northwest African nation.
French military forces, who began battling in Mali
on Friday, widened their aerial bombing campaign against the rebels
occupying northern Mali, launching airstrikes for the first time in
central Mali to combat the new threat.
Al Jazeera's correspondent Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from the
capital Bamako, said: "There are reports of about 60 fighters being
killed thus far while Doctors without Borders say they are very
concerned about the lives of civilians in the region."
The rebels, who come from several nations besides Mali, had been bottled up in the narrow neck of central Mali. But by now sweeping in from the west, they are now only 400km from Bamako, in southern Mali.
The rebels, who come from several nations besides Mali, had been bottled up in the narrow neck of central Mali. But by now sweeping in from the west, they are now only 400km from Bamako, in southern Mali.
Before France sent its forces in on Friday, the closest known spot
the rebels were to the capital was 680km away, although they might have
infiltrated closer than that.
