Rebels cut off thief’s hand

Published on 10/08/2012 00:00

Islamist rebels have cut off the hand of a suspected cattle thief in Mali, an insurgent leader said yesterday – the first case of amputation under sharia law imposed by insurgents controlling the country’s desert north.

Witnesses said a large crowd gathered in a square in the village of Ansongo, about 60 miles from the regional capital Gao, pleading with the MUJWA rebel group to spare the man.

MUJWA, which is suspected of having links with al-Qaeda’s North African wing, is one of several Islamist groups and separatist Tuaregs that seized control of northern Mali in April, after a coup in the capital Bamako.