Burkina Faso: a war where the enemy might be yesterday's trainees
All too often in the GWoT outsiders, often American, are drawn into a conflict as the enemy are jihadist terrorists and the linked article suggests that in Burkina Faso (previously Upper Volta) the enemy conducting bombings and ambushes are:
Quote:
A few of the major attacks have been claimed by regional jihadi groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and Al Mourabitoun. Ansar Al Islam, a group founded by the late Burkinabé radical preacher Malam Ibrahim Dicko, has claimed others. But more than 90 percent of the attacks have not been claimed....that’s because a now-disbanded elite military unit that received training from the U.S. is suspected of being involved in the attacks against the country.
The insecurity that Burkina Faso is experiencing today appears to be proof that support for an elite unit that works for a corrupt dictator can lead to more terrorism and insecurity. This type of mistake is one of the hallmarks of the so-called war on terror and has been repeated, in various forms, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, and numerous other countries.
Link:https://theintercept.com/2018/11/22/...-us-relations/
It is remarkable that the author cannot find any evidence to support his claims and those made by local politicians.
Some background and a map:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso