A Time of Year to Celebrate?

摘要

An international conference has begun to discuss possible military intervention in Mali. The country's northern region has been under rebel control since a separatist uprising in January. Upset with Mali's handling of the uprising, a group of soldiers ousted the government in March, creating a power vacuum in the country's northern region. Radical factions then assumed power in Mali's north, including the Islamic group Ansar Dine ("Defenders of Faith"). Reports of kidnappings, human trafficking, the use of child soldiers, stonings, and amputations have increased pressure for military intervention. Once considered a democratic success story in a long troubled region, the West African nation has been split in two since the aforementioned coup paved the way for a military advance by northern separatists and al-Qaeda-linked Islamists.