TIMBUKTU, MALI (ANS) -- Timbuktu may seem faraway – even mythical – to many people, but the remote West African city and its environs is facing a twin terror threat from within and without.

Bella tents in Timbuktu

Already suffering famine through drought and now a military coup, Mali is being terrorized by Al Qaida and associated rebels said to be claiming the northern part of the territory as their homeland, according to Tim Yattara, a British Bible college graduate now back working with his own people.

The effects of lack of rain combined with the global recession, exacerbated by rising unemployment and terrible inflation, has led to a mass influx from the countryside so that the city of Timbuktu is now surrounded by tents with many still struggling for food and work.

And with a government now overthrown by a military coup, the security situation has been made even worse by rebels from Libya loyal to their former leader Col. Gaddafi.

They have taken some small towns and captured Malian soldiers as prisoners, but the Malian army has fought back and reportedly killed some 50 rebels.

Tim Yattara

“Famine is now seriously spreading with many people moving into our town in order to survive the considerable impact of misery caused by famine and extreme poverty,” Tim told friends in England.

He said Gaddafi’s death had opened the way for these rebels to get hold of all his heavy munitions which they are now using against the Mali Government and army.

“We still don’t know what is coming next and we are hoping that all this one day ends up in peace and development for a better living condition of our people.”

What is certain, he adds, is that there is a very urgent need for food and financial help. Anyone able to contribute should e-mail Tim at timfromtimbucktu@googlemail.com to whom you could send aid directly by Western Union.

Tim knows nothing is impossible with God as he was raised from the dead through the prayers of his pastor father when he was a little boy.

Charles Gardner is a 62-year-old journalist working in Yorkshire with a vision to launch a national daily newspaper in Britain bringing worldwide news from a biblical perspective and thus filling the vacuum created by the expected ongoing collapse of the secular media world. He is married to Linda, 54, who takes Christianity into the schools of Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK, through assemblies, RE lessons and other creative means. He can be contacted by e-mail at: chazgardner@btinternet.com