The Malian Interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Wednesday that the war against rebels in the Northern part of the country has taken a new turn with the use of suicide bombers, but that was a situation which was predictable. The president was speaking in Bamako at a ceremony to swear in the ex-junta leader, captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, as the chairman of the military committee to carry out reforms in the country's security forces.
"We knew that once this operation begins, we would see emergence of suicide bombers. These are the tactics used by terrorists," the president said."We know that this is how far they can go, but be assured that we shall drive them away from our national territory," he reiterated.
Since January 11, Malian forces, with the support of French and African troops, have been engaged in a war against rebel groups in the Northern parts of the country. The war took a guerrilla style last week, where the rebels used suicide bombers in Gao. The prosecutor for the Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal Court of Appeal, Alfisseini Diop, said recently that all those who will be arrested over terrorism charges will be transferred to Bamako, the Malian capital.