Kadhafi mansion destroyed in French air raids on Timbuktu
MALI: French air raids on the fabled Malian city of Timbuktu
destroyed a mansion belonging to Libya's former leader Moamer Kadhafi
which was being used by Islamist radicals as their headquarters,
officials said. French planes bombed a major base of the Al-Qaeda in
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) near Timbuktu, a French defence ministry official
confirmed on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The last raids
took place on Sunday night.
"In the course of the last French bombings, several jihadists died
and the residence of Kadhafi, which had become the headquarters of the
Islamists, was destroyed," a Malian security source said, adding there
were no civilian deaths.
A local resident said: "Three or four other areas housing Islamists
were also bombed," adding that three houses "used by drug-traffickers
were targeted."
Mohamed Ould Lemine, a local official, said the Kadhafi residence
"caught fire" and the Islamists' "fuel supplies and weapons were
destroyed."
AFP |