Posted on 01/16/2013 3:52:21 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
(Reuters) - Islamist fighters seized dozens of Western and Algerian hostages in a dawn raid on a natural gas facility deep in the Sahara on Wednesday and demanded France halt a new offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali.
Three people, among them one British and one French, were reported killed, but details were sketchy and numbers of those held at Tigantourine ranged from 41 foreigners - including perhaps seven Americans as well as Japanese and Europeans - to over 100 local staff, held separately and less closely watched.
What is clear is that with a dramatic counterpunch to this week's French build-up in Mali, the region's loosely allied, al Qaeda-inspired radicals have set Paris a daunting dilemma and spread fallout from Mali's hitherto obscure civil war far beyond northwest Africa, challenging Washington as well as Europeans and shutting down a major gas field that pumps energy to Europe.
The attack, which Algeria said was led by a veteran, Afghan-trained holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence, came just as French ground troops in Mali launched their first assault after six days of air strikes.
The United States, which like European powers endorsed France's decision to intervene last week against Islamists who have seized vast tracts of northern Mali, confirmed Americans were among the hostages and said it would work to "secure" them.
Western and African governments have been alarmed by a flow of weapons and fighters across the unmarked Sahara borders following the end of Libya's civil war in 2011 and fear that Mali, where Islamists drive the national army from the north nine months ago, could become an Afghan-style al Qaeda haven.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
France is the target....according to this.
Where is the Youtube video for Obambi to blame this time?
Thanks Ernest.
I am wondering if this is a lie that the Soros Administration is using to get the US involved in yet another of his wars.
We should have supplied weapons to Ghaddafi to killll these scum.
If Obam had his way, the US military would be fighting on the side of Aqlaeda
If Obam had his way, the US military would be fighting on the side of Aqlaeda
&&&
He’s working on it.
Like many of us, I wondered where Mali was and why the French went to war to protect it.
http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/mali-where-is-it
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