Islamists beat people, seize amulets at north Mali market

BAMAKO, Mali – A resident of the northern Malian town of Hombori says that Islamist fighters have raided the local market, confiscating amulets that people were wearing.

Resident Maouloud Daou Lelele says that about 10 fighters from the radical Islamic sect the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, descended on the area on Tuesday morning, the day of the weekly market in Hombori, located 950 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of the capital, Bamako. They also burst into shops and confiscated the cigarettes being sold, as well as the dried tobacco leaves that old women sell on the side of the road.

The raid is the latest attempt by the Islamists to impose Shariah on Mali's moderate north. The northern half of Mali fell to the fighters in April.