“U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and diplomatic counterparts from France have been shopping around a plan to train and equip West African troops to drive out the Al Qaeda-aligned militants who hold sway over a swath of northern Mali the size of Texas. Ultraorthodox Muslims this year hijacked a long-simmering rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs and began imposing an extreme version of Islamic law once in power. In July, they took axes to ‘idolatrous’ cultural treasures in Timbuktu, provoking worldwide horror at the destruction.”
Source:U.S., allies marshaling African proxies for fight against terrorism – latimes.com
