Category: Mali

  • French Special Forces Seize Kidal

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    Brendan Barry
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    On Tuesday French special forces captured the airport in Kidal, Mali. (Although the use of the term airport is a bit generous.) In an unanticipated move—the Malian army was not informed before the operation commenced—the French retook the last major urban centre that had been under Islamist control. This may well end the first phase…

  • French Victories in Mali

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    Brendan Barry
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    France registered several major victories over the Islamist rebels in Mali this past weekend. Most importantly, French and French-led forces have all but retaken the key cities of Gao and Timbuktu. That leaves only the major city of Kidal still in Islamist hands along with a scattering of smaller towns and villages. As my infographic…

  • War in Mali

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    Brendan Barry
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    Malian and French forces in Mali have begun to slowly retake cities and towns in the conflict zone and are slowly pushing into northern Mali, which has been held by the Islamists for nearly a year. My infographic for today looks at recent troop movements and the growing arsenal of French weapon platforms involved in…

  • The War in Mali Continues

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    Brendan Barry
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    This morning’s graphic returns to Mali. The Malian and French forces are busy engaging the rebels at Konna and Diabaly while the rebels may be attempting to capture Banamba, only 90 miles from the capital Bamako. I also look a little bit more at the Tuaregs and then the basic timeline. That shows how much…

  • Operation Serval Continues

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    Brendan Barry
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    Tuesday saw no particularly startling developments in the conflict in northern Mali. The French continued to reinforce their quick reaction forces and sent their troops north to Mopti and Niono. By Tuesday night, press reports indicated that the first joint Malian–French force had left Niono to attempt to retake the town of Diabaly. My infographic…

  • Operation Serval

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    Brendan Barry
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    The tricky part about doing an infographic on a current event, like the conflict/war in northern Mali, is to keep the graphics updated and timely. Alas, I don’t have the necessary amount of time to do that. But, I still do want decent graphics explaining just what is happening. With Mali, the hard part is…