Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

[Bill Moore]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/af...224429787.html

The Mauritanian army has launched an attack on an al-Qaeda training camp in neighbouring Mali and "completely destroyed" it, a Mauritanian security source said.

Friday's assault in the forest region of Wagadou in western Mali involved air strikes, the unnamed source told the AFP news agency, adding that the "terrorists" struck back with "heavy arms".

Subsequent reporting states 15 terrorists dead and along with two Mauitanian soldiers.

This is how the war on terror should be fought, we don't need to send U.S. Army Divisions to occupy nations to fight terrorists.

[Rex Brynen]

This is how the war on terror should be fought, we don't need to send U.S. Army Divisions to occupy nations to fight terrorists.

Since Mauritania doesn't have any combat aircraft, I wonder who did the airstrikes...

[Bill Moore]

I suspect the French or the U.S., both have been active in the region.

Obviously plenty of NATO aircraft available over Libya that could have been re-missioned

[davidbfpo]

Within a longer article on the DEA and CT:

Liberia's narcotics- and law-enforcement-assistance package from the State Department has jumped from $800,000 in 2007 to a requested $17 million for 2011, a more than 2,000% increase.

Link:http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...7220-2,00.html

[davidbfpo]

An armed gang of kidnappers has abducted three tourists and killed a fourth in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali, security sources said....

On Thursday, two French geologists were kidnapped by an armed gang in the eastern village of Hombori.

Links:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15895908 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15877709

Unclear what the motives are, notably if an act of terrorism and some distance between the two places.