The U.N. refugee agency says at least 450,000 northerners have fled into neighboring countries or into the government-held south since the start of the year.

A recent report by the U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights cited many human rights abuses committed by Islamists in the north, including amputations, recruitment of child soldiers and "enforced marriages that are a smokescreen for enforced prostitution." Smoking and music are banned, and in many towns women are forced to wear a veil and are forbidden from interacting with men in public.

Amid these reports, many Malians appear to be reaching the conclusion this crisis is fundamentally different from past rebellions, in which secular, ethnic Tuareg separatists sought greater autonomy and independence for the region.

But there continues to be a broad mix of opinions regarding how a military intervention should be carried out. Many Malians who support military intervention say they fear that a hastily-planned, poorly-executed military campaign, by either the army or a regional force, would just make the crisis worse.