Mali Islamic Extremists Creeping South- Capture Central City

Islamic extremists in Mali are slowly creeping south in their quest to Islamize the whole country. Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) fought and won control of the north last April, wreaking havoc in the region. They've already destroyed some ancient historical sites in the northern city of Timbuktu, and are determined to destroy all the tombs of Muslim saints there. They've banned Western secular music, and forced women to wear the veil. Now they have their sight set on the south.

According to Ansar Dine, they invaded the government town of Konna, in central Mali, and are headed south. .

"We are currently in Konna for the jihad. We almost entirely control the town. Afterward we are going to continue" heading south, Abdou Dardar, who was reached by telephone from the capital Bamako, said.

Dardar, whose remarks were translated by an interpreter from Niger, said he was speaking in the name of all the Islamists.

People are justifiably worried.

"I no longer see the Malian army. I don't know what's happening. But I know that the Islamists have left Bore to come to Konna," said a worried resident. Bore, north of Konna, is a community controlled by Islamists who, according to a regional security source, engaged in fighting Thursday afternoon with the army in the area around Konna. "The army is trying to resist, based on our information," the source said.

This does not bode well for the rest of Mali. It also demonstrates just how resolute Islamists are in establishing their Caliphate, and like a cancer it will spread.