Al-Qaeda terrorists 'waterboarded' by Malian soldiers in Timbuktu

This is the dramatic moment French soldiers parachuted into Mali to recapture the city of Timbuktu from the hands of Islamic militants.

Pictures released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office show dozens of paratroopers falling from the sky above Timbuktu airport on Tuesday before joining soldiers from the Malian army to advance into the historical city.

A total of 250 French paratroopers were dropped in as part as part of Operation Serval to recapture Timbuktu. They were greeted as liberating heroes by the townspeople with the extremists melting away into the desert without firing a shot.

Supplies are dropped into Timbuktu airport. French military intervention in Mali has now entered the fourth week, after rapidly forcing Islamist militants retreat from major towns

Today ecstatic children gathered at a schools across Timbuktu which re-opened for the first time in the ten months since Islamists seized control of the city denying them an education.Women were seen dancing in the streets to celebrate the militants' withdrawal.

It comes as Malian soldiers were accused of using torture tactics similar to waterboarding on three al-Qaeda-linked terrorists captured during the liberation of Timbuktu.

The three men are being held in an earthen cell in what remains of the military camp in Timbuktu, which was captured by French and Malian soldiers after nearly 10 months under the rule of radical Islamists.

The men, who were tied together with a turban and one handcuff, admitted to reporters to being members of the al-Qaeda-linked group known as Ansar Dine, or Defenders of the Faith.

Jubilant: Malian children gather at a school in Timbuktu which re-opened yesterday for the first time in the ten months since Islamists seized control of the city

Schoolchildren pay close attention to their teacher in a Timbuktu today as French-led troops work to secure the last Islamist stronghold in the north after a lightning offensive against the extremists

Children pack round their desks as they listen to a school teacher after the reopening of Mahamane Fondogoumo elementary school in the town centre of Timbuktu February

 Malian children gather for the first day at school, left and a woman dances for joy in Timbuktu after French and Malian forces liberated the city

One of the men, who gave his name as Ali Guindo and said he was from a village near the central Malian town of Niono, described the tactics used by his captors.

He said: 'To force me to talk they poured 40 liters of water in my mouth and over my nostrils which made it so that I could not breathe anymore.

'For a moment I thought I was even going to die. I sleep in the cold and every night they come pour freezing water over me.'

All three prisoners described similar treatment. Their account could not be independently verified.

Soldiers holding the three men asked reporters to leave after initially allowing joualists to speak with them.

Colonel Mamary Camara of the Malaian army told reporters that the three were arrested by Malian forces in the town of Lere, and he said that one of the men was from Libya and was caught wearing a foreign military uniform.

Members of the al-Qaeda-linked terror group Ansar Dine Islamist ride in the back of a pick-up truck. Now three captured fighters claim to have been tortured by Malian soldiers using waterboarding following the liberation of Timbuktu (file picture)

Malian soldiers stand next to a military truck in the recently recaptured town of Gao

Liberator: A French soldier mans the gun of an armoured vehicle as he stands guard in front of the airport in Timbuktu

A boy walks past troops of the Malian army in the northe town of Diabaly

The Libyan jihadist was visibly frightened, crouching in a coer of his cell. He gave reporters contradictory information about his background, first saying he was bo in a Malian village but of Libyan descent.

Later, he said he was from Tripoli but has lived for years in Mali. He initially denied being part of Ansar Dine but later confirmed that he belonged to the movement though he denied having an important role.

The Malian military said that when he was arrested he was wearing a watch with a memory card inside that they said was used to communicate with other foreign jihadists.

The allegations of torture made public Friday in Timbuktu come as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Inteational released reports Friday outlining other allegations of misconduct by the Malian military over the last month.

According to Amnesty Inteational witnesses claim the Malian army had arrested more than 24 civilians on the eve of the French-led intervention some of whom are feared to have been killed

Discarded bullets lie scattered in a box in a Mali military camp that was seized by Islamists and later destroyed by French airstrikes in Diabaly

Amnesty Inteational cited witnesses saying the Malian army had arrested more than 24 civilians on the eve of the French-led intervention on Jan. 11.

Amnesty says it is feared that many were later killed by soldiers and some bodies were thrown down a well in Sevare.

The Associated Press had earlier reported killings of civilians by the Malian army in Sevare, with bodies dumped in a well.

The Malian govement has promised to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by its soldiers.

France has said that it eventually wants to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Malian army and other African counterparts.