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Thread: Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

  1. #401
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    Default Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

    Last edited by davidbfpo; 02-26-2018 at 10:09 AM. Reason: Copied from SWJ Blog

  2. #402
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    Default Tuareg militias again clash with Islamic State-loyal militants in northern Mali

    An illustration how complicated northern Mali can be.
    Link:https://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...thern-mali.php
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  3. #403
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    Default Mali the deadliest peacekeeping mission in the world - now Canada joins

    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/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-21-2018 at 05:07 PM. Reason: 149,934v
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  4. #404
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    Default The Foreign Legion in Mali

    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
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-03-2018 at 10:14 PM. Reason: 154,993v
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  5. #405
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    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/
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  6. #406
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    Default Two reports on the Sahel: Mali & Niger

    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.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-28-2018 at 12:59 PM. Reason: 160,779v
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  7. #407
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    Default RAF Chinooks in Mali

    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



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  8. #408
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    The Army has punished two members of the Special Forces team ambushed in Niger last October for their decisions before the mission and for insufficient training alongside their Nigerien allies in advance, according to military officials. Four others in their chain of command were also disciplined.

    Some of those punished in recent weeks included the Green Beret team leader, Captain Mike Perozeni, and his second in command, a master sergeant. Those absent from the six letters of reprimand include the two senior officers who approved the mission and who then oversaw the operation as it went fatally awry.

    The punishments appear to run counter to another narrative the Army has pushed in past months: the heroism displayed by the troops under fire. Almost all of the soldiers on the 11-man team, including those who were killed, have been nominated for valor awards, though they have yet to be approved. According to one official, senior officers at Special Operations Command believe that members of the team can be held responsible for failures before the mission and still be awarded commendations for their actions during the ambush.
    https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/wor...ZcI/story.html
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  9. #409
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    Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy charged two Virginia Beach-based Navy SEALs and two Marines in the 2017 strangulation death of U.S. Army Green Beret Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar. The U.S. Navy accused the suspects of strangling Melgar in a chokehold after breaking into his room while he was sleeping and restraining him with duct tape they acquired from Marine quarters.
    https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018...42307484/?lh=5
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
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  10. #410
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    Canadian peacekeepers saw their busiest day in Mali on Sunday after extremists with links to al-Qaida attacked a United Nations base, killing 10 and injuring dozens more.

    Five Canadian helicopters were scrambled from a different base after the attack, according to Canadian Forces spokesman Capt. Christopher Daniel, including two large Chinooks configured as flying hospitals and three smaller Griffon escorts.

    "The Canadian helicopters evacuated 15 wounded UN soldiers," Daniel added in an email. They also delivered food, water and ammunition.
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can...6ismedDlax3p-M
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 01-27-2019 at 09:16 PM. Reason: 173,492v today
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
    Drops to a ten-rupee jezail


    http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg

  11. #411
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    A European Union military training centre in Mali, where 11 Defence Force personnel are working, remainson high alert after a weekend attack from what are presumed to have been Islamic anti-western forces.

    An as yet unknown number of attackers were killed in the incident. Three Malian soldiers were wounded but have since been released from hospital. No Irish military personnel were injured, according to the Defence Forces.

    The attack happened at around 3am on Sunday when two vehicles loaded with explosives approached the Koulikoro Training Centre which is approximately 100 kilometres east, north east of the capital, Bamako.

    The attackers approached the main, southern side, entrance gate to the centre, dismounted their vehicles and began firing.

    Force protection soldiers at the centre repulsed the attack, according to the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali.
    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...eF5UQ.facebook
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-06-2019 at 09:56 PM. Reason: 175,659v today
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
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    Two thousand pounds of education
    Drops to a ten-rupee jezail


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  12. #412
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    Default Confronting Central Mali’s Extremist Threat

    I have never heard of this group the article examines:
    The Macina Liberation Front has opportunistically played on perceptions of ethnic, economic, religious, and political marginalization to become one of the most active militant Islamist groups in Mali.
    Link:https://africacenter.org/spotlight/c...remist-threat/
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  13. #413
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    Mad Max v.2019 *

    Suspected jihadists killed 21 Malian soldiers in a raid on an army camp in central Mali on Sunday, military sources said, after a dawn attack that the armed forces believe was led by a deserter.

    Driving cars and motorbikes*, the attackers stormed Dioura army camp in Mali's central the Mopti region, in the latest assault on the military as the country grapples with the spread of jihadist groups and instability.
    The attack was carried out "by terrorist groups under the command of Ba Ag Moussa, a deserter army colonel", according to the Malian armed forces.
    https://www.france24.com/en/20190317...a-attack-mopti
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
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  14. #414
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    Default Danes to join the war

    hat tip to WoTR for this article, which opens with - optimism shines through IMHO:
    A few weeks ago, the Danish government announced it would submit to its parliament a request for the deployment of two medium lift helicopters AW101 and about 70 military personnel to the Sahel region as part of the French-led counter-terrorism operation “Barkhane.” Once the deployment is approved by lawmakers, as appears likely, Danish assets would join the operation in late 2019.
    This announcement has received little attention, but it is significant — both for the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel region and for the future of European defense cooperation. It provides an insight into a new approach to the project of building European defense, one that does not necessarily rely on the structures or complex institutional settings of the European Union, but instead focuses on pragmatic and operational cooperation between states.
    Link:https://warontherocks.com/2019/03/wh...-in-the-sahel/
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    Canada has been asked to extend for three months its helicopter deployment in Mali; their role is casevac. Rumanian Puma helicopters are not ready yet, their scheduled arrival is July 2019.
    Link:https://globalnews.ca/news/5086209/c...ion-extension/

    BBC and others report:
    At least 50 people have been killed in an attack on a village in central Mali by armed men wearing traditional Dogon hunters' clothing
    Links, note the first link has slightly more detail:https://www.france24.com/en/20190323-mali-100-fulani-herders-massacred-donzo-ogossagou-ethnic-violence? and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47680836


    Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-23-2019 at 09:06 PM.
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  16. #416
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    Canada will not extend their year-long Chinook medevac deployment:https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...stia-freeland/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-14-2019 at 02:00 PM. Reason: 175,894v today
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    Two items. A film report via Al-Jazeera, which looks at the Canadian Chinook deployment and the Dutch SOF (who leave soon too):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON0-VybdyTc

    Then a SME Q&A:https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org....no-charbonneau
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-30-2019 at 06:46 PM. Reason: 181,491v today
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  18. #418
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    Default China’s UN Peacekeeping in Mali: Strategies and Risks

    A short article by the Oxford Research Group; in summary:
    China’s peacekeeping in Mali represents another example of the country's increasing willingness to send personnel into an active conflict zone and a shift in Chinese strategic thinking.
    Link:https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org....gies-and-risks
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-30-2019 at 06:47 PM. Reason: Copied from peacekeeping thread
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  19. #419
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    Default Speaking with the “Bad Guys”: Toward Dialogue with Central Mali’s Jihadists

    An ICG report and sub-titled:
    War between the state and jihadists in central Mali has led to growing intercommunal violence. To spare civilians additional harm, the government should explore the possibility of talks with the insurgents about local ceasefires and humanitarian aid – while remaining open to broader discussions.
    Link:https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sahel/mali/276-speaking-bad-guys-toward-dialogue-central-malis-jihadists

    A comment by Richard Barrett, ex-UN, SIS plus via Twitter:
    ICG paper on 'Talking to the Bad Guys' in CentralMali have far wider relevance and possible applicability. Understanding and addressing what really lies behind persistent 'jihadist' violence, is the only way to end it.

    Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-21-2019 at 07:38 PM. Reason: 182,419v today 1k up in 2 months
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  20. #420
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    Default Jihadist violence and communal divisions fuel worsening conflict in Mali and beyond

    An IISS overview, subtitled:
    With alarming increases in jihadist violence across Mali, the situation in the country has transformed into a multidimensional crisis with overlapping conflicts and security challenges.
    It ends with:
    So far, the Malian and Burkinabe authorities have been unable to contain the insurgents or tackle the sharp increase in communal violence. International stakeholders – the MINUSMA, the French and the G5 Sahel – have had little success either. Failure to address the roots of the insurgency will harden communal divisions and risks further regional destabilisation.
    Link:https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/...licts-in-mali?
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