War on Terrorism Update: The Liberation of Northern Mali

           In a significant victory in the War on Terrorism, French forces have retaken all three provincial capitals in northern Mali, including Timbuktu and Gao, from Islamist rebels who usually offered little resistance.  

           Several neighboring African states have also contributed a force sufficient to help the Malian army hold the liberated towns against the expected attempt by the al-Qaeda-affiliates who have faded into the sand dunes of the Sahara to return.  The United States has provided increased logistical and intelligence support while other European states have brought additional assets.  Northern Mali is no longer the safe haven for Islamists it was and is no longer a de facto Islamist state.  As the Islamists have withdrawn, anecdotes of Taliban-style oppression at the hands of al-Qaeda have emerged from the now-liberated northern Malians.  The Islamists also desecrated some sites of religious and historical significance, as well as burnt some important medieval texts in Timbuktu.  Meanwhile, the Tuareg rebels, who had forged an alliance with the Islamists before splitting with them in advance of the French, have also fled into the desert. 

            The Malians and their African and Western allies must remain vigilant against al-Qaeda and other Islamists and should seek and destroy the remaining enemy cells to eliminate the threat completely.