Malian soldiers keep tight control over former al-Qaeda base
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WAGADOU FOREST — Malian forces are building up their defenses in the Wagadou forest, braced for a counter-attack by al-Qaeda fighters three weeks after wresting the base back from the jihadi group.
Three units are now hunkering down in the dense forest, backed by two surveillance aircraft — a gift from France — carrying out flyovers every day and two helicopter gunships.
“The abandoned trenches you see here were under construction for the past five months” by members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Col. Gaston Damango, head of operations in the forest zone, told AFP.
About two meters (six feet) deep, the trenches were designed to keep the base supplied with ammunition and allow for jihadists to move around unseen.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110721com6.html
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