DAKAR (Reuters) - In a 2013 speech claiming victory over jihadists in Mali who had seized the north a year earlier, French President Francois Hollande said that if it had not been for his nation's military intervention, "today we would have terrorists here in Bamako".
Two years on, a rhetorical flourish meant to evoke a fearful but unthinkable scenario has come true as jihadists seeking new hide-outs and bigger targets have spread south from Saharan bases into formerly stable capital cities.
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