Tuareg-rebeller sidder nu på hele den nordlige del af det kæmpemæssige ørkenland i Vestafrikas Sahel-bælte – samtidig hærger islamisk gruppe de erobrede byer og kræver sharia-love indført.
BAMAKO, 3 April 2012 (IRIN): Malians in the northern towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu are hiding in their homes in fear following the weekend takeover by rebel groups, during which hospitals, health clinics, government buildings, and most NGO and UN offices and warehouses were looted (plyndret), and in some cases destroyed, leaving the bulk of humanitarian operations suspended.
After decades of failed Tuareg secessionist rebellions, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has suddenly taken over most of northern Mali – with significant help from the Islamist group Ansar Dine – a barrelling advance that culminated in the capture of Timbuktu on 1 April.
Issa Mahamar Touré, president of the youth association in Gao, said total chaos reigned after widespread looting of government offices, NGOs, banks and hospitals in his town.
“People are hiding at their homes unable to leave… no trucks are arriving with further supplies…”
“What will we do when our stocks run out? The hospital is closed and doctors have fled… It is complete desolation, despair… We can only turn to the international community for help,” he explained.
Ansar Dine has claimed control of Timbuktu where they say they will impose Islamic Sharia law, banning alcohol as well as Western clothes and music. Several residents told IRIN they wanted them out.
“We are against this takeover,” said Amouhani Touré, a teacher who had just fled the town, adding:
“These Islamists want to impose their rules on us… We are in the 21st century, you cannot impose Sharia on peaceful citizens. The authorities, if we have any still, must fight these Islamists with all their might… Timbuktu is a holy site, a tourist town; UNESCO-protected, we will say no to all forms of separatism.”
An under-equipped and demoralized Malian military put up little resistance against the northern rebels, despite a promise by Captain Amadou Sanogo, who led a coup ousting President Amadou Toumani Touré on 22 March, that a reinvigorated army would fight back.
Humanitarian operations suspended
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95233/MALI-Looting-halts-aid-work-in-chaotic-north
Se også telegrammet
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/21-02-12/kampen-en-fri-tuareg-nation-f-res-identitet-og-v-r
