A man prays as Malian soldiers man the entrance to a strategic bridge on the Niger river on January 22, 2013 near Markala, 270 kms north of Bamako. Mali's army chief said on January 22 that his French-backed forces could reclaim the northern towns of Gao and fabled Timbuktu from Islamists in a month, as more offers of aid poured in for the offensive. French planes bombed a major base of the Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) near Timbuktu as local sources said a mansion belonging to Libyan former strongman Moamer Kadhafi was destroyed.
{"Image ImageDescription": "A man prays as Malian soldiers man the entrance to a strategic bridge on the Niger river on January 22, 2013 near Markala, 270 kms north of Bamako. Mali's army chief said on January 22 that his French-backed forces could reclaim the northern towns of Gao and fabled Timbuktu from Islamists in a month, as more offers of aid poured in for the offensive. French planes bombed a major base of the Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) near Timbuktu as local sources said a mansion belonging to Libyan former strongman Moamer Kadhafi was destroyed.  AFP PHOTO / ERIC FEFERBERG        (Photo credit should read ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP via Getty Images)", "Image Copyright": "2013 AFP"}