West Coast,
My apologies, yes FIBUA is MOUT.
I suspect that the fighting "hand to hand" is meant to reflect the closeness of the fighting rather than actually fighting hand to hand.
There are tools for MOUT/ FIBUA. The USA has been able to afford many of them. Other nations not so many, but yes there are still some useful tools.
The French have reacted to the request for assistance in Mali very quickly. I suggest that they do not have all their tools with them, nor do they have sufficient troops to do anything other than what they are doing.