Rebels' raid poses Mali guerrilla war threat for French

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - Malian troops hunted house-to-house in Gao on Monday for Islamist insurgents whose attack inside the northern town at the weekend showed the risk that French forces might become entangled in a messy guerrilla war.

Sneaking across the Niger River under cover of darkness, the al Qaeda-allied rebels fought Malian and French troops on Sunday in the streets of the ancient Saharan trading town, retaken from the Islamists two weeks ago.

Malian Defence Minister Yamoussa Camara said three of the Islamist raiders were killed and 11 taken prisoner, while some Malian soldiers were wounded in the street fighting.

The brazenness of the rebel raid, which followed successive blasts by two suicide bombers at a northern checkpoint, was a surprise to the French-led military operation in Mali which had so far faced little real resistance from the Islamists.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/11/uk-mali-rebels-idUKBRE91A0EM20130211

[Arctic Dave]

1. They can't be that dumb can they?

Have they learned nothing from the last 11 years.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Never mind the past 11 years

The UK learned that from the IRA which was the allusion used for likely future events when Afghanistan was invaded.

Irish Republican Army http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Republican_Army