Malian junta imposes curbs on news media

The ruling junta in Mali has imposed strict regulations on the media coverage of a French-led war in Mali as French and Malian troops push further toward northern parts of the West African country.

French officials said on Friday that French troops along with Malian soldiers advanced on the fighters’ stronghold in the city of Gao after recapturing the northern town of Hombori.

Earlier in the day, France with the help of the Malian Army imposed media restrictions on the developments on the ground.

Meanwhile, local officials said fighters based in the Malian town of Ansongo destroyed a bridge near the Nigerien border, in an attempt to stop the advance of African troops, which are stationed in neighboring Niger and are expected to cross into Mali to attack the fighters.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that the war in Mali could leave at least 700,000 people homeless.

On January 11, France launched the war under the pretext of halting the advance of the fighters who control the north of Mali. The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark have said they would support the French war in Mali.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has also pledged to support the French war by sending 5,800 soldiers to Mali.

Some political analysts believe that Mali’s abandoned natural resources, including gold and uranium reserves, could be one of the reasons behind the French war.

Chaos broke out in Mali after President Amadou Toumani Toure was toppled in a military coup on March 22, 2012. The coup leaders said they mounted the coup in response to the government’s inability to contain the Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country, which had been going on for two months.

However, in the wake of the coup d’état, the Tuareg fighters took control of the entire northern desert region, but the Ansar Dine fighters then pushed them aside and took control of the region.