On Jan. 28, after two weeks of beating back Islamists with little resistance, French-led forces regained control over the town of Timbuktu. One thousand French soldiers along with 200 Malian troops seized the airport and surrounded the town, an ancient cultural hub and major prize in the fight for the country. "The town has been effectively taken without any clashes," Col. Thierry Burkhard told reporters at a briefing in Paris.
After living for almost 10 months under harsh occupation, residents gave French and Malian troops a hero's welcome. But the looting and destruction in the wake of the offensive cast a shadow over the celebrations. In addition, operation leaders have warned that while the town may have been taken easily, Timbuktu's militants may have slipped into hiding in preparation for guerrilla-style warfare. Here, Foreign Policy has collected some of the best images from the mission to take back Timbuktu.
Above, residents of Timbuktu pose with French forces.
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Children welcome Malian and French soldiers, celebrating the end of an occupation by Islamists who imposed a harsh form of sharia law on the town.
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Timbuktu residents watch as a French convoy crosses the city.
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Members of a crowd point at a man suspected of being an Islamist. While many rebels fled before their arrival, Malian and French troops were working to flush out any who remained in hiding on Tuesday.
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After supporting the quick operation in Timbuktu, French Gazelle military helicopters fly back to the French army base camp. "There were no shots fired, no blood spilt," said Frederic Gout, the head of French helicopter operations in Timbuktu.
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Men pick through the remains of ancient manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Institute, which rebels set ablaze before fleeing the city.The mayor of Timbuktu described the incident as a "devastating blow" to Mali's cultural heritage, but Time reported this week that preservationists had actually launched an operation early last year to safeguard thousands of manuscripts before militants took control of the town. "The manuscripts are in total security," one Malian official told the magazine.
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A motocyclist holds a doll with a sign thanking French President François Hollande.
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Women stand in the courtyard of their house, which was destroyed by a French airstrike on Jan. 27. According to residents, France's aerial strikes in the days preceding the French arrival drove out most of the Islamist militants.
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Hundreds of Malians looted stores in Timbuktu on Tuesday, saying the shops belonged to "Arabs" and "terrorists" linked to the radical Islamists who occupied the desert town for 10 months.
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Malian soldiers work to disperse looters and reestablish control in the town, which is still suffering from power outages and destruction left by fleeing Islamist rebels.
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A Malian soldier with a French insignia watches as soldiers enter a house that was held by Islamists.
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Malian soldiers arrest a man suspected of being an Islamist militant.
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