Echorouk enters AQIM's stronghold in Timbuktu: Mali Armed Forces under control of Azawad Front

State of “Azawad” declared its independence in the north of Mali, and its existence is linked now, in the international media, to the names of Salafist groups and supporters of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its splinter groups, Al-Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa, and recently the organization of the Sunnis.

Visiting these areas was considered an act of madness because they contain dozens of contradictions, which may make a foreign journalist like a product in the slave market where he/she is sold like any other products, or in the market for bids to be bargained away as a hostage.

Through this field coverage, Echorouk was seeking to highlight the creation of armed battles in the Northern Mali, which resulted in the announcement of the “Azawad” region’s dependence and the creation of the State of Azawad, on an area of ​​800.000 square kilometres.

Nouakchott, the trip to the stronghold of the supporters of religion (Ansareddine)

We did not address the issue of Azawad and the Declaration of independence of their state in the manner pursued by other media, so it was decided that we communicate with the largest possible number of splinter groups active in the region of the liberation movement where Azawad national armed forces, and the National Conference of Azawad, which is political wing, and members of the group of supporters of religion (Ansareddine), the goup of Sunnis.

These contacts led us to arrange the travel measures and the goal was to enter the city “Timbuktu” and “Gao”, but the rumors about the possibility of closing the Algerian borders with Mali at any time, urge us to review the idea and we decided then to enter these areas via the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. We arrived there via an Air Algerie plane on Wednesday ‭of last week. ‬

We arrived to Nouakchott to settle down in 48 hours. We tried to contact the elders of Azawad and other groups, and after studying how to enter to the territory of independent Azawad, we decided to cut off distance of more than 2400 km deep in the desert, through crossing the Pacific Ocean from the far west of Mauritania ‭capital Nouakchott, to the far east in ‭the nearest point of the border city of ‭ ‬ ‮ “‬ Pascano” ‬with the new state of Azawad‭.

The trip to the unknown took us in more than one area in the new Azawad State, we have been disrupted for more than five days in Mauritanian, because of sand storms that swept through the heart of the desert, and due to the difficulty of routes and roads in the hundreds of kilometers, which obliged us to use and rely on a guide in the desert, who was also our driver and interpreter from the Hassani dialect to Arabic or French. He introduced me to the members of a group, and we agreed to ensure my safety and protect me from anything that may happen during the trip

People fleeing from Timbuktu

At a distance of more than 2400 km from northern Mauritania to the maximum point in the southeast, the province “Pascano” was looming on the horizon with the mirage that characterizes the zone, where temperature reaches 45 degrees, the desert-arid, which name becomes today synonymous with the largest Azawad refugees, who fled the war in the cities of Timbuktu, Gao and other big cities, which declared its independence in the new Azawad State , bringing their number during the weekend to more than 54 thousand displaced people, who left their homes in the Azawad to settle in Mauritanian territories.

Images of suffering increased when we went deep in the desert, where anno the jihadi Salafist groups declared what they call the Emirate of caliphates. The suffering of the city, “Pascano” was also increasing day after day, after it became unable to provide life for thousands of displaced people, coming from the northern cities like Timbuktu, Gondam, Lira, Lerenb, Gargendo, Derry, Tonka, Nebka Alk, Guney, Asadi,Bir, .. And others.

Mali armed troops under control of Azawad front

In different ways and methods, we succeeded in entering the first city “Ellery” located in the soil of the new Azawad state, where the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawads secured our way o Timbuktu, one of the largest Azawad cities, as we ere accompanied by cars carrying heavy weapon and anti-aircraft arms, and gunmen with automatic weapons, machine guns and Kalashnikovs, they said it is war booty taken Mali armed troops which colonized their region.

We stopped for several hours in the military bases that were in one day under the control of the Malian official army, the scenes of destruction were visible and clear, our driver Abu Bakr said; “We have faced fierce battles on these points just four days before your arrival, Mali soldiers used heavy weapons and anarchical beatings. “