Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

[SWJ Blog]

Conflict Resolution: The Case of Northern Mali

Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.

[davidbfpo]

An illustration how complicated northern Mali can be.
Link:https://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...thern-mali.php

[davidbfpo]

A succinct summary by a Canadian academic (in the 2nd link) after Canada's decision to deploy:

Canada plans to deploy two Chinook transport helicopters and four Griffon attack helicopters to provide armed escort and protection in the fight against Islamist militants in the violence-torn West African nation.

Link:https://www.theglobeandmail.com/feed...ticle38299902/

He ends with:

This is a simple snapshot of the conflict landscape that Canada is entering. As our forces prepare for the challenges ahead, serious questions must be asked of our government about how to ensure that Canadian blood and treasure are not wasted, and that we do not leave Mali worse off than when we arrived. Every single tough lesson from Afghanistan, Somalia and Rwanda must be brought to bear.

His three reasons in brief:

First, Mali is awash with ethnic and tribal warfare that can seem near-incomprehensible to outsiders. Secondly, while Platform and CMA clash, the Islamists in northern Mali have embarked on a unity campaign. Thirdly, Canadian forces are entering the heart of Mali’s volatile war economy, and the armed groups in the region where Canada will be based are implicated in criminal networks that traffic narcotics, humans and weapons across the region. The fact is, these ethnic militias are directly profiting from the political chaos.

Link:http://w.theglobeandmail.com/opinion...ssion-to-mali/

[davidbfpo]

A week old, short French TV documentary (21 mins) on a three month tour to Mali by a French Foreign Legion detachment, as part of Operation Barkhane; the reporter was with them for six days and not a shot was fired.
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8T3IxQo4M

[davidbfpo]

A recipe for perpetual conflict and not just in the Tuareg north. A quick overview after the missing vehicle for the ambush of US & Niger patrol.
Link:https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...nce/546985002/

[davidbfpo]

The first is a BBC News photo essay 'The war in the desert; Why the Sahara is terror's new front line'. IT has a few interesting, though not new quotes. This refers o the UN peacekeepers, almost 14,000 peacekeepers from nearly 60 different countries:

Different countries accept different levels of risk. Many are simply going through the motions - counting down the days, trying to stay alive, and having little real impact in a place where it’s nearly impossible to keep the peace.

Then citing the UN Force Commander: I need better equipped and better trained contingents. I need more vehicles… to protect my people against the IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and mines and so on and I need to upgrade the training level of my contingents.

Then the trade in migrants / refugees in Niger: Criminal gangs moved in and the desert tour guides became human traffickers, carrying lorry-loads of migrants north to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This thriving industry provides both cash and cover for the radical, violent, extremist groups assembling across the Sahara.

On external funding of mosques and schools:Towering over a second meeting is a new white and green mosque, which smells of fresh paint. The UN says Qatari money paid for the building - like Saudi Arabia, here and in other parts of Africa they have a programme that provides new mosques and preachers to teach a very conservative form of Islam.

Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources..._in_the_desert

The references to an attack @ Timbuktu are to an attack in April 2018, so this report may have taken time to reach publication

The second article, published yesterday in 'The Guardian' is headlined: 'New terrorist threat as EU stance on migrants triggers disquiet in Niger;

Efforts to buttress Europe’s borders have left people smugglers in Niger jobless and ripe for exploitation by jihadist groups'. It opens with:

Thousands of men who transported, fed, and housed the hundreds of thousands of migrants who used to cross the impoverished west African country are now unemployed and could easily be exploited by one of the major jihadist groups operating in the region, said leaders in the remote former migrant hub of Agadez.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/global-d...odes-ill-niger

That is simply weird and appears to contradict the BBC report!

I will copy this to the Mali and UN Peacekeeping threads for reference.

[davidbfpo]

In mid-July 2018 the UK deployed three RAF Chinooks to support the French in Mali, for a year; they became operational a month later and this all was publicly announced. One RUSI expert expressed concern at the commitment, cited in part:

They may have thought the commitment of a few helicopters meant 'we've done our thing', without realising it was potentially putting our fingers in the mangle...It may have looked like an easy win to the politicians, but it comes with a significant amount of risk....It is an apparently limited commitment but with a potentially large bill in the future.

Link:http://https://www.telegraph.co.uk/n...ect-european/.

Yesterday via Twitter based on a French MoD statement we learnt that:

So far the Chinooks have made 51 sorties, transporting over 1155 French troops, supplies and 83 tons of equipment across Mali.

Link in French:https://www.defense.gouv.fr/operatio...des-operations