French forces met no resistance Wednesday inKidal, the Islamists' last major town, as the two-week-old mission scoredanother success in its effort to dislodge the al-Qaida-linked militants fromnorthern Mali.
The capture of Kidal came just days after French and Malianforces retook two other provincial capitals — Gao and Timbuktu — that also hadbeen under harsh Islamic rule for nearly 10 months.
"Nobody questions France's rapid deployment but theability to hold on to the cities and territory is an immense challenge. It isnot clear how they will be able to sustain the recent gains," said AlexVines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House.
"The Islamist extremists have not been defeated; theyhave melted into the heat haze of the desert."
Many fear the Islamists now will attempt to hide amongcivilian populations in small outlying villages, only to return and attack theweaker African forces once the French are gone.
The Islamists are believed to have an elaborate system ofcaves and other desert hideouts that they have constructed over the last yearas momentum for a West African regional military intervention stalled.
The Islamist fighters fired on French forces when theyarrived in Gao, though the militants had deserted Timbuktu by the time forcesarrived there on Monday, damaging the airport's runway in acts of vengeance asthey fled.
Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regionalassembly, said French forces also met no resistance when they arrived lateTuesday in Kidal.
"The French arrived at 9:30 p.m. aboard four planes,which landed one after another. Afterwards they took the airport and thenentered the town, and there was no combat," said Maiga, who had been intouch with people in the town by satellite phone as all the normal phonenetworks were down.
"The French are patrolling the town and two helicoptersare patrolling overhead," he added.
In Paris, French army Col. Thierry Burkhard confirmed thatthe airport was taken overnight and described the operation in Kidal itself as"ongoing." France's defense minister said bad weather was hamperingthe troops' progress out of the airport.
Maiga said fighters from the National Movement for theLiberation of Azawad — a secular Tuareg group that once battled alongside theIslamists for control of the north — had left Kidal as of Wednesday. Azawad iswhat the Tuaregs call their homeland in northern Mali.
France, the former colonial ruler, began sending in troops,helicopters and warplanes on Jan. 11 to turn the tide after the armed Islamistsbegan encroaching on the south, toward the capital. French and Malian troopsseized Gao during the weekend, welcomed by joyous crowds. They took Timbuktu onMonday.
"Now it's up to African countries to take over,"French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Le Parisien newspaper. "Wedecided to put the means — in men and supplies — to make the mission succeedand hit hard. But the French aspect was never expected to be maintained. Wewill leave quickly."
In Gao's main market, thousands of women returned to work onWednesday without the black veils required by the Islamists. They wore vibrantpatterned fabrics and sported makeup.
"We are free today, we are free," said FatimaToure, a Gao resident.
Back from exile, the mayor and governor of Gao met withcommunity elders to chart the best measures for returning life to normal.
The elders presented two cows to the authorities and arepresentative of the French army in gratitude for their work in liberatingGao.
While most crowds in the freed cities have been joyful,months of resentment toward the Islamists bubbled into violence in Gao.
Video footage filmed by an amateur cameraman and obtained byThe Associated Press shows a mob attacking the symbol of the extremists' rule,the Islamic police headquarters.
Some celebrate cheering "I am Malian," whileothers armed with sticks and machetes attack suspected members of the Islamistregime. The graphic images shot Saturday show the mob as they mutilate thecorpses of two young suspected jihadists lying dead in the street.
There are 3,500 French troops involved in the operation and2,900 Africans, according to the latest figures from the French DefenseMinistry.
Mali's military was severely affected by a military couplast year coup and has a reputation for disorganization and bad discipline.Malian soldiers have been accused of fatally shooting civilians suspected oflinks to the Islamists. The military has promised to investigate theallegations.