World

Mali: Demonstrators call for military intervention

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Police say that Malians demonstrated for an international military intervention to regain control of the country's north, which is currently controlled by Islamist extremist rebels.

An estimated 2,000 protestors marched through Bamako to urge the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution for a military campaign to push out the Islamist groups that control northern Mali's vast desert area.

The demonstration was organized by supporters of Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, who first suggested the idea last week on national television. The national police said the protesters marched peacefully in central Bamako. The U.N. plan calls for the Malian army to be supported by troops from the African Union and logistical support from France and the United States

"We want to liberate the North," shouted Mamadou Coulibaly.

Related Headlines

  • Jerry Krause

    Family: 24-hour delay to report US pilot missing

    The family of a U.S. missionary pilot who has disappeared off the coast of West Africa says aviation officials waited nearly 24 hours to start searching for his missing plane. 

  • Mali military enters fabled town of Timbuktu

    Backed by French helicopters and paratroopers, Malian soldiers entered the fabled city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants who ruled the outpost by fear for ... 

  • US begins transporting French troops to Mali

    Pentagon officials say the U.S. airlift of French forces to Bamako could continue for another two weeks. It's expected to take about 30 C-17 flights to get everything there. 

  • French encircle key Malian town of Diabaly

    French troops encircled a key Malian town on Friday to stop radical Islamists from striking closer to the capital, a French official said. The move to surround Diabaly came ... 

Find your future job here