The conflict in northern Mali has been raging since early 2012, with several insurgent groups fighting a campaign against the Malian government. The various groups want to establish an independent state in northern Mali, which they're calling Azawad, and the Malian government – unsurprisingly – don't really want them to do that.French forces were brought in to help out the Malian government and, as is usually the case when French forces get involved, combat footage has been hard to come by as the French ban journalists from the front line and film a sanitised version of the fighting themselves to distribute to the media.However, when we flew out to Gao, northern Mali, earlier this year to film a group of Malian soldiers, the insurgents came straight to us. They had slipped into the city overnight on some small boats, used suicide bombers to blast their way into the principal government buildings and set themselves up for a day-long battle.We spent the battle at extremely close quarters with the Malian army – left to fend for themselves by the French – as they struggled to fight less than a dozen jihadists, wildly spraying bursts of automatic fire everywhere and destroying the city centre. Here's a teaser trailer for that film.More from Mali:The War in Mali Isn't Any Good for Its ElephantsWhat's Really Happening in Mali?
Annons