al Qaeda takes Mali

From Homeland Security NewsWire:

Break-away Mali region now under al Qaeda-affiliate control

June 4, 2012

Following a March 2012 military coup in Mali, Tuareg secessionists in northeast Mali have seized two-thirds of that country — an area larger than France — and proclaimed the Independent State of Azawad; things have not gone as planned: three months after secession, an al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist fundamentalist movement, Ansar Dine, is in control of the vast territory; the Financial Times observes: “[W]hat initially appeared to be a quest for a secular homeland has turned into something much more dangerous, for Mali and far beyond: the possibility of an Islamist-aligned mini-state that could offer a base to the jihadist groups and criminal gangs that roam the Sahara”.

Reports from Azawad now portray a grim picture of the situation on the ground: three months after the declaration of the independence of Azawad, an al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist fundamentalist movement, Ansar Dine (or Defenders of the Faith) is controlling the vast territory. The Islamists have marginalized the Tuareg-based National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA); are in the process of imposing a strict Sharia law on a reluctant population; have called in hundreds of foreign jihadists – some from as far as Pakistan and Afghanistan; and have increased cooperation with the North African branch of al Qaeda – Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM


One of the noticeable results of this Islamic take-over of Azawad has been a wave of Tuareg refugees fleeing the newly independent territory: the Financial Times reports that in the last three months, some 400,000 thousands – or about a quarter of the population – have left Azawad to villages and cities in the southwest of Mali.

The deepening crisis in Mali is not only a humanitarian crisis. As the Financial Times observes: “[W]hat initially appeared to be a quest for a secular homeland has turned into something much more dangerous, for Mali and far beyond: the possibility of an Islamist-aligned mini-state that could offer a base to the jihadist groups and criminal gangs that roam the Sahara.”...

There is much more here.

Yet again, the signs are all around the world that there IS a Global War being waged by the "Religion of Peace." We ignore these stories - these signs - at our peril.