Photo: AFP
North Malian Islamists have seized a town between the north Mali regional capital of Gao and the capital of Bamako, but denied intentions to advance further south.
The Islamist Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) seized the town of Douentza, located 800 kilometres north-east of Bamako, from a local militia Saturday morning. At least ten lorries of MUJAO Islamists took control after a short face off, according to AP.
The militia, one of several formed following the Tuareg uprising earlier this year to protect their towns after the military failed to protect them, tried to call for reinforcements but soon surrendered, Islamist leader Oumar Ould Hamaha’s told AP in a phone interview.
The Islamists decided to take the town when the militia stopped taking orders from the Islamists. “I told my elements that we need to get rid of these people because they are refusing to respect us. We gave them the authorisation to come to this place, and now they want to work independently of us,” Hamaha told AP.
Douentza was one of the few remaining key northern towns which were not under the control of the Islamist rebels until Saturday.
Hamaha however denied intentions to continue south to take the capital, unless “the Malian military attempts to take back the north.” In which case, he claimed the Islamist militants would “take the quasi-totality of Bamako and the black flag of the Islamists will fly over Koulouba (the presidential palace)” in less than 24 hours.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports cited a statement by MUJAO in which they claimed to have executed the Algerian Consul in north Mali. MUJAO kidnapped the diplomat with three of his colleagues, who were later released, in April. The Islamists issued a ransom ultimatum for last Tuesday which was extended only to expire again on Friday.
MUJAO is believed to be an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is based in Algeria. Algeria has repeatedly launched counter-terrorism campaigns against AQIM’s presence in the region, often inside Mali’s borders.
