海角大神

鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Pledges of international aid and military support are flooding into Mali just 2-1/2 weeks after France launched a military offensive in the West African country.聽And though spirits are high after French forces reportedly took the cities of Gao and Timbuktu in recent days, many warn fully stamping out Islamist rebels in Mali鈥檚 north and neighboring countries could take years.

Yesterday, close to 1,000 French and 200 Malian troops overtook the airport in Timbuktu, prior to entering the ancient city. Residents told the BBC that the Islamists departed days earlier, after bombs were dropped on their bases there.

鈥淭here were no shots fired, no blood spilt. Not even passive resistance with traps," a colonel heading the French helicopter operations in Timbuktu said of overtaking the city.

During the weekend troops also secured the city of Gao. Both Timbuktu and Gao are important 鈥渟trategically and symbolically鈥� since they have been under the Islamist rebel control since last April.

But according to 海角大神鈥檚 correspondent in Mali, the relative ease with which troops have been able to reclaim cities and towns from the Islamists doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean their work is near completion.

When or how France will leave Mali may be an increasingly salient challenge for the former colonial power, whose intervention, at the behest of Mali鈥檚 interim President Dioncounda Traor茅, came months before a Western-backed, West African-led plan was set to go into effect.

France has pledged to stay in Mali until it is stabilized, but with unknown numbers of Islamists still in the country that end goal is fuzzy. On Monday, French President Francois Hollande said at a news conference: 鈥淲e are winning in Mali,鈥� reports CNN.

The international community, meanwhile, has stepped up in recent days to make sure Mali defeats the Islamist rebels there, who have limited the rights and activities of locals since last year.

The African Union agreed yesterday to contribute $50 million to the mission in Mali. According to the BBC, 鈥渋n a list of donations carried on the AU鈥檚 Twitter鈥� feed today, Japan pledged $120 million; Germany $20 million;聽India and China $1 million each; and the US $96 million.

And the聽Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),聽which initially pledged 3,300 troops in Mali, expects to see that number to rise. 鈥淯p until now, a dozen African nations have offered to contribute to this force, bringing its total to 5,000 or 6,000,鈥� reports the South African government news agency.

France currently has close to 3,000 troops in Mali, and an estimated 8,000 African troops are expected to eventually take over, reports the BBC.

In an effort to enable Malians to maintain control over their territory once international powers step back, officials said today that聽European Union countries are meeting in Brussels to discuss contributing more troops, reports the Associated Press. The mission could include deploying 500 people, half of whom would be working as military trainers, by April 1.

The United States, for its part, has said it will not deploy combat troops to Mali. However, during the weekend the US agreed to provide support for in-flight refueling to French troops there, reports Bloomberg News. In a sign of increased US involvement in the region, the US and Niger signed a pact that will allow US military personnel to be stationed in the country, which sits just east of Mali. Bloomberg reports the plan has been in the works for more than a year, and could possibly include the stationing of US drones in Niger.聽

According to the AP the US has already been providing help in the region:

Yesterday in Timbuktu, crowds came out to cheer on the French and Malian forces that liberated their home. Flags from both countries were flying, and people were dancing and celebrating, according to a second Monitor report.

鈥淯nder the Islamists, you could never see this 鈥� people listening to music together in the open air,鈥� says Ciss茅 Al Mansour, a cook in Timbuktu.

The United Nations reports that more than 11,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting in Mali, and an estimated 23,000 have been displaced since the crisis started, according to Bloomberg.