Mali Declares State Of Emergency Over Islamist Threat

Mali Declares State Of Emergency
FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012 file photo, fighters from the Islamist group Ansar Dine leave after performing a public amputation, severing the hand of a young man found guilty of stealing rice, in Timbuktu, Mali. The Mali army attacked Islamist rebels with heavy weapons in the center of the country which divides the insurgent-held north and the government-controlled south, government officials said Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012 file photo, fighters from the Islamist group Ansar Dine leave after performing a public amputation, severing the hand of a young man found guilty of stealing rice, in Timbuktu, Mali. The Mali army attacked Islamist rebels with heavy weapons in the center of the country which divides the insurgent-held north and the government-controlled south, government officials said Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/File)

BAMAKO, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore declared a state of emergency on Friday as government forces battled to hold back al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters threatening to push south from their northern strongholds, an official at the presidency said.

"President Traore has just decreed a state of emergency. The information will be transmitted on national television this evening," the official told Reuters, asking not to be named.

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