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In pictures: Street battle in Mali

Rare images from the town of Gao where Malian and French troops fought a fierce battle with rebels.

A soldier reloads his weapon during street battles between the rebels and French and Malian forces in Gao. The streets of Mali(***)s biggest northern town were paralysed by fighting after members of MUJAO took over the mayor(***)s office and city hall.

By Tanya Kaur Bindra

Published On 27 Feb 2013

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On the night of February 20, gunshots and explosions rang throughout the night in Mali’s northern town of Gao. The Malian military said that the checkpoint leading to Bourem had been attacked – the very same checkpoint that saw two suicide bomb attacks in the past two weeks.

The next morning, members of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a radical rebel group with links to al-Qaeda, had taken over the mayor’s office and city hall, and engaged in a fierce firefight with the Malian and French military. The ensuing battle lasted for five hours in the downtown Gao area.

The battle was the second one to rock Gao since the French military intervened last month to drive out al-Qaeda linked groups from the region.

France intervened in its former West African colony on January 11 to stop a southward offensive by the rebels who seized control of vast swaths of the north in April last year.

While things have calmed down in Gao in the days after, it’s almost certain that the rebels are regrouping in neighbouring towns that have not been yet secured by Malian and French forces, preparing for more guerrilla-style attacks.  

For now, the residents of Gao are holding their breath.

Members of the Malian army and press take cover as fire comes towards them from the rebels in Gao. The two forces traded fire for roughly 5 hours in the downtown Gao area last Thursday.
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A Malian soldier fires at the rebels in Gao. Reports suggest that the rebels recruiting child soldiers at religious schools to bolster their numbers, and Gao(***)s Mayor Sadou Diallo has put the number of recruited students between 200 to 300. 
A soldier prepares his rocket launcher during street battles between rebels and French and Malian forces in Gao. France has announced its intentions recalls its troops from Mali in March.
A rebel(***)s body is picked up to be disposed by Malian military after militant rebels and Malian and French forces fought street battles last Wednesday, in Gao. 13 Chadian soldiers died in clashes in the Adrar Des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali.
Gao(***)s market lies in ruins after the fighting. The stalls of many local merchants were destroyed, undermining their livelihoods. The town has also suffered from two suicide bombings during the last month.
The guardian of the Hotel Atlantide de Gao surveys the damage done to the hotel after the street battles. The attacks in Gao speak to the combat experience of the rebel fighters, foreshadowing the long road ahead to restoring government control to northern Mali.
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Malian soldiers pack away munition, weapons and paraphernalia seized by Malian and French forces from radical rebels at the French army base in Gao. French and Chadian forces clashed with rebels in the Adrar Des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali on 22 February 2013, where at least 65 rebels and 13 Chadian soldiers were killed in their ongoing effort to regain control of northern Mali.
A Malian Tuareg soldier points to munition, weapons and paraphernalia seized by Malian and French forces from rebels at the French army base in Gao. The French have been cooperating with the pro-autonomy Tuaregs to fight off rebels seeking to make Mali into an Islamic state.
Munition, weapons and paraphernalia seized by Malian and French forces from the rebels are displayed at the French army base in Gao.
A Malian soldier takes cover during street battles between rebel fighters and French and Malian forces in Gao.
Malian soldiers advance amid a cloud of smoke during street battles between rebels and French and Malian forces in Gao.
Malian soldiers advance amid a cloud of smoke during street battles between rebels and French and Malian forces in Gao.