US Military Commander In Africa Admits Mali Mistakes
http://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/01/us-military-commander-in-africa-admits.html
The US military commander in Africa says the Pentagon made mistakes in its training of Malian troops now trying to oust Islamists from the north.
Gen Carter Ham of United States Africa Command (Africom) said its forces had failed to train Malian troops on "values, ethics and a military ethos".
He was speaking after reports of abuses by Mali government troops taking part in the French-led counter-offensive.
Meanwhile Islamists have destroyed a key bridge linking eastern Mali to neighbouring Niger from where African troops are planning to open a new front, sources said Friday, as a French-led offensive entered a third week.
The overnight strike on the bridge at Tassiga cut the shortest road link to the Islamist stronghold of Gao, and comes after French warplanes bombed Islamist bases in the surrounding area early Thursday.
Gao lies some 150 kilometres from the Niger border in eastern Mali, where more than 2,000 Chadian soldiers and 500 troops from Niger are being deployed to open a second front against the Islamists from the east.
"The Islamists dynamited the Tassiga bridge. No one can pass to Niger or come to Gao," said the owner of a transport business, Abdou Maiga.
He was speaking after reports of abuses by Mali government troops taking part in the French-led counter-offensive.
Meanwhile Islamists have destroyed a key bridge linking eastern Mali to neighbouring Niger from where African troops are planning to open a new front, sources said Friday, as a French-led offensive entered a third week.
The overnight strike on the bridge at Tassiga cut the shortest road link to the Islamist stronghold of Gao, and comes after French warplanes bombed Islamist bases in the surrounding area early Thursday.
Gao lies some 150 kilometres from the Niger border in eastern Mali, where more than 2,000 Chadian soldiers and 500 troops from Niger are being deployed to open a second front against the Islamists from the east.
"The Islamists dynamited the Tassiga bridge. No one can pass to Niger or come to Gao," said the owner of a transport business, Abdou Maiga.
