Devastation In Mali Under French Attack

After François Hollande's victorious trip to Timbuktu, the three major cities in northern Mali have been declared "liberated" from rebels - although the Sharia law and Islamic extremism they enforced will not soon be forgotten. 

Nevertheless, this victory is a partial one. The militants have merely retreated and fled, and the suffering in this war has been disproportionate to its success. 

We're learning what happened in battle day by day. The small town of Konna in the Mopti region was seized by the Muyao tribe. They then fled to the north when French troops showed up. 

But it's reported that the cost of that liberation was high. French planes killed only two rebels, and the number of civilian casualties was an estimated 14. 

"I wasn't home when the bombing began. I started praying when I learned my house was under the attack. They ruined everything I had - my family and my livelihood. My wife's name was Aminata. She was 40. My son Ali was 11. Adam was 10 and Seinogu was 6. They all died", says Idrís Meiga, a farmer from Konna. 

People like this farmer, Idrís, ask themselves if the result was worth it. 

The Kampó family suffered badly. When the bombing began, everyone scattered. The Kampós lost two of their sons - they drowned in the river because they could not swim. The young mother died from shell splinters, leaving three children behind. One was a newborn baby. 

"The village was a complete mess, it's impossible to describe. I'll only discuss things I know for sure, and I can say that all we had is gone," says Mohama Kampó, a local resident. 

"Some kids came running up to us and said their mum had died. I brought them to our house. Their mother died after an hour clinging to life. The children have nobody else but us," neighbor Abdul Kampó says. 

Disaster visited every house in the town. People reject anything the military says about victory, and believe that their war crimes must be prosecuted under the Geneva Convention. 

Towns like Konna want more than just compassion. People who suffered at the hands of terrorist groups and drug traffickers are now facing the misery inflicted by war.