Mali Islamists ‘better-equipped’ than expected
BAMAKO– A French ground offensive in the town of Diabaly entered a fourth day Friday as diplomats said Mali’s Islamist rebels were better-equipped than expected. “Our enemies were well-armed, well-equipped, well-trained and determined,” a French envoy said.
This Oct. 8, 2012 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the Amenas Gas Field in Algeria, which is jointly operated by BP and Norway’s Statoil and Algeria’s Sonatrach. Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation Thursday at the plant in the Sahara Desert and freed foreign hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants, but estimates for the number of dead varied wildly from four to dozens. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)