Como esse conflito não vai ser resolvido tão cedo, creio que teremos muitas notícias e comentários sobre o assunto
Isto foi noticiado há pouco:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21002918
Só para complementar:13 January 2013 Last updated at 18:10 GMT Share this pageEmailPrint
France Rafale jets target Gao in eastern Mali
France's military has been in action against Islamist militants in Mali since Friday, helping government forces recapture the central town of Konna.
A resident in Gao told AFP news agency all Islamist bases in the town had been destroyed and the militants had fled.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the Islamist advance in Mali had been brought to a halt.
Islamist groups and secular Tuareg rebels seized northern Mali in April 2011, but the Islamists soon took control of the region's major towns.
For months, Gao has been in the hands of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao),
France said the militants had suffered significant" casualties, as reports of the bombing in Gao came in.
The town is around 500km (310 miles) north-east of a de facto line dividing the rebel-held north of Mali from the government-run south.
The foreign minister made it clear that France was now targeting Islamist bases in the north and said Algeria, which shares a long border with Mali, had given permission for its air space to be used for bombing raids "without limit".
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said four Rafale fighter jets, flying from their base in France, had attacked and destroyed rebel training camps and logistics depots, which acted as back-up bases for terrorist groups.
The air attacks were continuing as part of an offensive to drive back Islamist militants who still control large swathes of northern Mali, he said earlier.
"There were [air strikes] last night, there are now and there will be today and tomorrow," the minister said.
BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says it seems clear that French air power is now preparing the ground for a much bigger offensive against the Islamist groups that seized northern Mali a year ago.
'Guys with guns'
France's decision to intervene took many by surprise. A UN-backed international force had not been expected to deploy in the west African state until the autumn.
But last week, the Islamist fighters pushed further south, seizing the strategically important town of Konna. The town has since been recaptured by Malian troops.
An unnamed Elysee Palace official quoted by AFP said on Sunday that French armed forces had been surprised by the fighting quality of the Islamist militants they were up against.
"What has really struck us is how up-to-date their equipment is, and the way they've been trained to use it," the official said.
"At the start, we thought they would be just a load of guys with guns driving about in their pick-ups, but the reality is that they are well-trained, well-equipped, and well-armed.
"From Libya they have got hold of a lot of up-to-date, sophisticated equipment which is much more robust and effective than we could have imagined." ...
A distância, em linha reta, de Saint Dizier - França até Gao - Mali é de aproximadamente 3.600 Km.
Abraços,
Justin