Post #1: French Airstrikes Push Back Islamists and Regain Towns in Central Mali

                The struggle for independence and basic freedom are still very much alive in many countries in the Middle East. We are lucky enough to live in a country that supports the awareness of these issues, and spreads them through our innumerable media and journalistic outlets. However, even with all the freedom we possess, many of us (myself included) are blind to struggles that aren’t reported day in and day out by our nation’s skewed newscasters. With all of the attention on the Middle East, it is easy to forget that there are problems outside of this conflict heavy area.

This article, from the New York Times, outlines the conflict taking place in Mali, which rests right below Algeria in western Africa. Radical Muslims have moved into Mali from the north, and have successfully overrun the northern half of the country in an attempt to capture the nation’s capital, Bamako. The Malian people do not have much confidence in their own military, which let half of Mali’s territory slip away along with two decades of democratic rule. But, they luckily gained support from the French army this weekend, who combatted this Islamic overtaking with airstrikes and foot soldiers, successfully reclaiming the town of Diabaly and pushing back the militant Muslims toward the northern border of Mali.

This is an ongoing struggle that has ties to religion and resources, so this will not be the last we’ll be hearing about this. I realize that Mali isn’t exactly in the Middle East, but I thought it was important to bring attention to continuing struggles in that part of the world that fall by the wayside of many more prominent struggles in the Middle East.