| The Malian army has chased out the last of a group of Islamic extremists who crossed into the country from northern neighbour Algeria last year, President Amadou Tomani Toure has told reporters. Citing a report from the army, Toure said on Tuesday at a press conference to mark the second anniversary of his election: "For the last three or four days, no more armed Islamic terrorists from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) are in northern Mali." The report said the army had "dismantled arms caches" built up by the radical group in Mali, Toure added. The fight to break up Islamic extremist groups in Mali was being waged "in close collaboration with Mali’s neighbours," he said, without giving details. A small group of GSPC fighters crossed into Mali from Algeria about a year ago, when they forced a group of European tourists kidnapped in southeastern Algeria to trek across the desert. |