Malian civilians form militia to combat Islamists

(AFP) Some barefoot, others wearing plastic shoes, a ragtag group of Malians shout "one, two, three!" as they throw up their knees high during a military drill.

The motley crew of would-be fighters is made up of students, young jobless men and displaced civil servants who fled Mali's north when Islamic extremists occupied the desert area five months ago.

Now these men hope to return -- fighting-fit and steeled for battle -- to liberate the region they call home, which is in the grip of the jihadists who have enforced strict sharia law. [...]

The extremists piggy-backed on a Tuareg separatist rebellion which started in January, fuelled by former mercenaries from Libya.

Together, the militants overwhelmed Mali's poorly-equipped army, which then launched a coup in the southern capital Bamako that only heightened the chaos and sped up the rebel advance.

The Islamists soon pushed out their erstwhile Tuareg allies and have since enforced strict Islamic law while sparking regional and international fears of a new centre for radicalism in Africa.

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