MALI: CHRISTIANS FLEE IMPOSITION OF SHARIA

Elizabeth Kendal, Assist News

Published 04/12/2012 - 8:07 a.m. CST

Pack rape of women and children, plus Nigeria update (Kaduna Easter bombing)

AUSTRALIA -(ANS) - Having seized the capitals of the three main northern provinces in three days -- Kidal, on 30 March, Gao on 31 March and Timbuktu on 1 April -- the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (NMLA) declared it had achieved its military goal. (NMLA is the ethnic Tuareg rebel group that has seized control of northern Mali.) Consequently, on Thursday 5 April the NMLA announced a ceasefire. Whilst the NMLA has been fighting for political ends -- specifically for autonomy in their homeland -- they have been aided by Islamic jihadists who have been fighting for religious ends, specifically an Islamic state where Sharia (Islamic) Law is enforced.

No sooner had the NMLA achieved its goal, the jihadists of Ansar Dine hoisted the black flag of al-Qaeda and announced the imposition of Sharia. Some 100 Nigerian Boko Haram militants who assisted in the capture of Gao have also established a presence there. Sources advise there are four distinct flags flying in Goa: the NMLA, Boko Haram, Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). However, it is the jihadists calling the shots, not the professedly secular NMLA.
The Tuareg rebellion has left northern Mali devastated. There have been reports of pack rapes as well as massive destruction and looting. The UN's office of humanitarian affairs reports:

'Malians in the northern towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu are hiding in their homes in fear following the weekend takeover by rebel groups, during which hospitals, health clinics, government buildings, and most NGO and UN offices and warehouses were looted, and in some cases destroyed, leaving the bulk of humanitarian operations suspended.' (IRIN, 3 April.) Head of the Malian office of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Julia McDade, told IRIN: 'Everyone [in Gao] is in hiding, everyone's vehicles have been stolen . every single office has been ransacked.' Caritas Mali reported that its local office in Gao was destroyed along with the local church which served Gao's 200-strong Catholic community. Read the rest on: