Mali seeks to revitalise bombed-out central town

In central Mali's river town of Konna, a new army camp and revamped port architecture represent a new tack for the government, which has struggled to control the lawless region for years.

Not far from the camp, children play near the burned-out husk of an armoured military vehicle, a relic of past battles between state forces and jihadists.

After capturing the north of the Sahel state in 2012, Islamist militants swept south, reaching Konna at their furthest point, before a French military intervention drove them back in 2013.

In one of the first military engagements of that campaign, French warplanes launched strikes on Konna, while Malian soldiers and French special forces battled hundreds of jihadists on the ground.

The small town is an important trading post for fishermen in the inner delta of the Niger river, and features picturesque mudbrick-and-adobe buildings typical of the arid region.

But its once-bustling port was partly destroyed by French bombing in 2013, damaging the local economy.

Eight years on, swathes of Mali remain engulfed in war, in a conflict which has killed thousands.

While Konna has been spared the worst of the chaos, Al-Qaeda-linked militants have stepped up attacks in the rural areas outside the town and the government is barely present.

Its once bustling port was partly destroyed. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP)

Bamako and its foreign partners are testing a new model involving boosting security and making infrastructure improvements in central Mali, however, in a bid to help residents of the war-torn region.

In Konna, the port has been repaired and a new military camp was built.

"The protection of civilians must remain at the heart of our action in regions in crisis," Mali's Prime Minister Moctar Ouane said on Saturday, while inaugurating the new port.

In a sign of continuing insecurity, the prime minister visited under heavy military escort, with pick-up trucks circling the perimeter of Konna while he was there.

'Konna will live'

Recent construction in Konna cost the equivalent of about 3 million euros ($3.6 million), and was funded by the European Union and the World Bank.

"Konna wants to live and Konna will live," Ouane said, adding that the government plans to expand investment model to eight other towns in central Mali.

Recent construction in Konna cost the equivalent of about 3 million euros. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP)

Abass Dembele, the regional governor, summed up the plan to AFP thus: "Security, peace and development".

He explained that Konna is the only town in the surrounding area which is relatively peaceful.

Elsewhere, he said, "there is really no security, there is nothing at all."

Alleged exactions

However, not all residents of Konna have a rosy view of the armed forces, which are frequently accused of committing atrocities.

One Malian researcher, who requested anonymity, painted a brutal picture of military personnel in the town.

An aerial picture shows the new river port of Konna funded by the World Bank. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP)

"Arbitrary arrests and summary executions have continued in Konna," he said, explaining that the targets are ethnic Fulani people accused of harbouring jihadist sympathies.

Three people, all Fulani, told AFP that they have not heard from one of their family members who was arrested, for example.

Islamic preacher and jihadist Amadou Koufa, whose militia is active in central Mali, has recruited actively from the Fulani community -- feeding suspicions against the semi-nomadic herders.

Officials in Konna deny wrongdoing, however.

"The police are there to ensure peace and quiet ... it's normal to make arrests," said Demba Samouka, an advisor to Konna's mayor, adding that the military doesn't make mistakes.