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French Troops in Mali Anti-Jihadist Campaign Mired in Mud, Mistrust

Reuters

   The French soldiers seeking out jihadists in central Mali's savannahs
   were prepared for the sandstorms, the thunderstorms, the lack of
   anything resembling a road, and the need to tow vehicles whose wheels
   kept getting stuck in floodplains.

   They knew getting information out of terrified villagers would be
   difficult.

   But as the multi-week operation wore on in Gourma district, where 400
   French troops and 100 allied Malians searched for 50-odd jihadists they
   estimated were hiding in the shadows, the obstacles kept piling up.

   First, there were the storms, forcing them to abandon supper, pack up
   their mosquito nets and sleep contorted in their vehicles. Then up at 3
   a.m. for a mission that couldn't start because the weather had grounded
   their helicopters at base.

   Then, flash floods turned sandy ground to sludge and burst the wadis so
   only their newly deployed tracked fighting vehicles could cross.

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