War_Conflict

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The French military moves in at the airport in Bamako, Mali. Islamists prevented residents from leaving the towns they are holding, and some fear they will be used as human targets. (Associated Press)

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French troops stand guard along the road leading from Markala to Niono in central Mali on Wednesday as they pressed northward toward territory occupied by radical Islamists. In announcing the start of the land assault, military officials said soldiers would be in direct combat "within hours." (Associated Press)

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pauses during a news conference in Rome on Jan. 16, 2013. Panetta confirmed that American citizens are among the hostages taken earlier that day by an al Qaeda-linked group that seized a gas field in Algeria, calling the action a "terrorist attack." (Associated Press)

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Mike Fiota, manager at Duke's Sport Shop in New Castle, Pa., replaces Jan. 15, 2013, one of five used military style rifles — all that are available — into a rack that usually has more than twenty new models for sale. Fiota says the few there are on consignment from individuals. (Associated Press)

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Islamist militants raided and took hostages at the Amenas natural gas field in the eastern central region of Algeria on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/BP)

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A security man with the Afghan intelligence services gestures to his colleagues, as he stands at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Six militants — one driving a car packed with explosives — attacked the gate of the Afghan intelligence service in the capital Kabul on Wednesday, setting off a blast that could be heard throughout downtown and which sent a plume of dark smoke rising into the sky. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

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Firefighters look for survivors at the local headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party after a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/ Emad Matti)

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** FILE ** Firearms instructors Logan Martin (left) and Andres Gonzalez of Calgary, Alberta, look through the sights of Sig Sauer Swat Patrol AR rifles during the 35th annual SHOT Show on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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** FILE ** Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 14, 2013. (Associated Press)