Two weeks ago, the French military launched Operation Serval, intervening in a complicated, months-old conflict in northern Mali. A year earlier, Tuareg rebels had attacked government positions throughout northern Mali, temporarily seizing control of a large area and declaring it a new state named Azawad. The rebels soon lost control though, displaced by several Islamist groups, including elements of Al Qaeda, intent on imposing Sharia law in the region and possibly establishing a base for terrorist activity. Those militant groups began pushing south recently, prompting a planned U.N. action, but France felt compelled to act sooner than anticipated, to prevent further damaging gains. More than 2,000 French troops are now involved in Mali, pursuing and attacking anti-government forces from the air and ground, with support from nine other western countries and several neighboring African nations.

Source:
http://m.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/01/the-conflict-in-mali/100446/

Pic 1: A soldier of the French foreign legion wearing a skeleton mask stands next to an armored vehicle in a street in Niono, Mali, on January 20, 2013.

Pic 2: A woman waves to French soldiers, heading toward the recently liberated town of Diabaly, on January 24, 2013.

Pic 3: French soldiers man a Sagaie armored vehicle at an observation post outside Sevare, on January 24, 2013.

Pic 4: A French Puma transport helicopter lands to test the field in the center of Niono, on January 20, 2013.

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Pic 1: The flag-draped coffin of French lieutenant Damien Boiteux of the 4th helicopter special forces regiment, who was killed during the French intervention in Mali, is carried by pallbearers into the courtyard of the Invalides during a national ceremony of homage in Paris, on January 15, 2013.

Pic 2: A truck carrying Malian farmers passes by a French army dugout outside Markala, on January 19 2013.

Pic 3: A French soldier takes up position outside Markala, on January 19, 2013.

Pic 4: A boy who fled northern Mali, at a camp for internally displaced persons, in the city of Sevare, Mali, on January 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention.

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Pic 1: Units of the French army take position near Sevare, on January 23, 2013.

Pic 2: French troops walk in Niono, Mali, on January 20, 2013.

Pic 3: Malian soldiers celebrate as they return to Niono, from Diabaly, on January 19, 2013.

Pic 4: A man takes a picture of the charred remains of trucks used by Islamists on the outskirt of Diabaly, Mali, on January 21, 2013.

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Pic 1: French soldiers walk around an area destroyed during aerial bombings as they arrive in the city of Diabaly, on January 21, 2013.

Pic 2: A soldier directs two French Mirage 2000D jets, after landing at Bamako airport, Mali, on January 17, 2013.

Pic 3: French troops gather in a hangar at Bamako's airport in Mali, on January 15, 2013.

Pic 4: French military personnel and their vehicles, aboard a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft before departing for Mali from Istres airbase, near Marseille, France, on January 24, 2013.

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Pic 1: Munitions, believed to belong to Islamist rebels, lie stockpiled in the courtyard of local resident Issa Dembele's house in Diabaly, on January 23, 2013.

Pic 2: Issa (left) and Asseytou Dembele pose for a picture with their son Bakary in their house in Diabaly, on January 23, 2013.

Pic 3: A Bin Laden sticker adorns the tank of a small motorcycle in Mopti, Mali, on January 24, 2013.

Pic 4: A Malian soldier points his weapon at an oncoming vehicle, prompting the driver to slow down, at a checkpoint in Diabaly, on January 21, 2013.