Mali rebels attack northern town in coup aftermath

Source: AP

By BABA AHMED, Associated Press – 1 minute ago

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Rebels on Saturday attacked Mali's strategic northern city of Gao, a day after they took the provincial capital of Kidal, witnesses and an official said. The move deepens the crisis in the landlocked West African nation after a coup earlier this month.

The two towns are major prizes for the Tuareg rebels, who launched an insurgency in January that was fueled by the flow of arms from the fall of neighboring Libya, where many of the rebels had been on the payroll of ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Gao is just 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the capital of the landlocked nation, where a putsch claimed power 10 days ago.

If Gao falls, the only other major city in Mali's north in government hands is Timbuktu.

A soldier based in a military camp on the outskirts of Gao said he could hear the sound of heavy weapons being fired on Saturday. A resident in Gao said that he had seen the Tuareg fighters in the city and that there were brief gunbattles in the town. He said people had barricaded themselves at home. Both the soldier and the resident requested anonymity because they feared retribution.


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