Revelation 6:3-4 NCV When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take away peace (prosperity, rest) from the earth and to make people kill each other (butcher, slaughter, to maim violently, in streets), and he was given a big sword (assassins sword, terrorist, loud, mighty, sore afraid).
Despite statements from French military officials that Islamic extremists are retreating throughout Mali since French intervention, reporters on the ground say that the government has lost a major city.
The Islamists today in a surprise counter-attack on Malian army forces, took Bamako, about 250 miles from the capital. French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed to BFM television the Malian army was unable to hold their grounds.
A resident in the city told the BBC the fighting lasted for 10 hours.
The French Air Force has been engaging in air strikes over the last four days forcing aid workers helping civilians caught in the crossfire to flee for their lives. French forces on the ground in western Mali reportedly had engaged “heavily armed militants” and reported that they’re having a difficult situation advancing against the terrorists.
French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, told the BBC they were working to bring in an additional African-led force to fight the Islamists “within a matter of weeks.”
