AQIM Starts Using Libya Smuggled Arms

Militants at al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) carrying sophisticated arms were seen taking refuge in the woods of Ouagadou locality in Mali, near border with Mauritania, local sources said.

Malian media press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that lot of civilians fled the locality, as a clash between the terrorists and the security forces is likely to spark. 

“The militants appeared a couple of weeks ago in the woods of Ouagadou, carrying load of arms, which frightened the dwellers of the neighbouring villages and forced them to flee,” said eyewitness Mohamed Oueld Brahim, a merchant. 

Meanwhile, Jeune Afrique magazine has quoted a source in Mali as saying that many gunmen entered the woods of Ouagadou, adding that the local authorities are afraid that it is about fighters who came from the strife torn Libya.

In this context, the local East News website revealed that “17 vehicles pertaining to AQIM reached Ouagadou woods on Thursday coming from Niger,” adding that “the vehicles were parked inside a tunnel built recently there, in order to hide them from Mauritanian reconnaissance aircrafts.”