Al Ahly flee troubled Mali

Players and officials of Egyptian club Al Ahly finally left Mali on Thursday after they were trapped for days in renewed violence.

The Red Devils lost 1-0 to host team Stade Malien in the CAF Champions League on the weekend, but were unable to travel back to Cairo following armed clashes between the ruling military junta and guards of Mali’s ousted leader, which saw activity in the capital Bamako come to a halt while also shutting down the airport.

An Egyptian military plane airlifted the six-time CAF champions out of the city when the airport re-opened on Thursday morning. The team was taken to the airport accompanied by Malian soldiers armed with machine guns, according to Reuters.

The chairman of Egypt’s National Council for Sports Emad El Banany and Al Ahly’s president Hassan Hamdy were among the dignitaries who welcomed the delegation upon their arrival in Cairo on Friday morning.

Nigerian side Sunshine Stars, who had also being blocked in a similar situation, have successfully flown out of the country.

A military coup in March deposed democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Toure and plunged the landlocked nation into an unprecedented crisis and time of uncertainty, with Touareg rebels controlling the northern part of the country.