Source: Spiegel.

By Matthias Gebauer in Sevare, Mali

AFP PHOTO / SITE Monitoring Service

This handout photo reportedly shows Islamist fighters preparing for war in northern Mali.

France led the West on Friday in offering to help Mali’s interim government push back a surprise offensive launched Thursday by Islamist forces from the north. Elite French troops are reportedly already on the ground.

A huge convoy of cars suddenly drove into the small city of Sevare, in central Mali, at around 3 p.m. on Thursday. One could already tell from the incessant honking that something was amiss. “Get out while you still can!” screamed the sweat-drenched driver of a dilapidated blue Mercedes. Then he stepped on it, and the other cars raced away behind him.

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