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NIGERIA - THE NEW FRONT WITH JIHAD
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared, on 05/15/2013, a state of emergency in three states after a series of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups.
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ISRAEL LAUNCHED AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIZBULLAH IN SYRIA
American security sources said, on Friday 05/03/2013, Israeli Air Force - IAF bombed targets related to the shipment of sophisticated rockets from the Syrian Army’s arsenal in Damascus region to Hizbullah in Lebanon
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3 ARRESTED FOR OBSTRUCTING THE BOSTON BOMBING INVESTIGATION
Three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were arrested and accused, on Wednesday 05/01/2013, of removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room
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4 ISLAMISTS ARRESTED IN ITALY OVER TERROR
Police in Italy have arrested, on 04/30/2013, four of six men they suspect of planning terrorist attacks.
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FRENCH EMBASSY IN LIBYA ATTACKED
The French embassy in Libya’s capital Tripoli, has been attacked, on Tuesday 04/23/2013 morning, and two guards have been injured.
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CANADA FOILED TRAIN BOMBING PLOT
Canadian authorities said, on Monday 04/22/2013, they have arrested and charged two men, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser with an Al Qaeda-linked plot to "carry out a terrorist attack" against a passenger train.
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2013 - MALI CANPAIGN
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THE 2013 MALI CAMPAIGN
- OPERATION SERVAL -
 Mali, in Western Sub Saharan Africa, is a huge country, stretches on 1240000 square k”m and with only 15.5 millions population, 90% of them Sunni Muslims. The South of the country, with the capital Bamako, is populated mainly with African tribes. The North half of the country is part of the Sahara desert and is populated and domained mainly by nomad Arabs known as the Tuareg, about 10% of Mali’s population. The country level of life is about 3$ a person a day. Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires; the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire and is a typical colonial formation of the French African policy. Like many other African countries formed by colonial empires Mali suffered from deep tribal and historical divisions, instability and ongoing tension between the African population in the South and Tuareg tribes in the North. Following the end of the civil war in Algeria, in the late 90th and the beginning of the 21 century, many radical islamist fled Algeria to the vast areas of the Sub Sahara and found shelter among the Tuareg and nomad tribes that domain the region of more than 2 million square k”m, which contains Southern Libya and Algeria, Northern Chad, Niger ,Mali and large parts of Mauritania in the West. Away from the reach of any Western power they regrouped, formed, in 2007, a new loose coalition of radical islamists - the MAGHREB al-Qaeda, also known as AQIN (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). The new group, affiliated to Al Qaeda carried out several attacks in the countries bordering the Sahara desert. They also specialised in kidnaping of westerners for ransom of for political extortion. Following The Libyan-Campaign and the collapse of the Libyan army in 2011, Libyan weapons in large quantities found their way to elements of Al Qaeda in Libya itself, to East Sudan and the Darfur bloody conflict, to Gaza Strip, to the rebels in Syria and to Al Qaeda and the Tuareg tribes in the Sahara. The crisis in Northern Mali began in 03/2012. when a group of junior soldiers seized the presidential palace in Bamako and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended. The move brought the collapse of the fragile balance and stability in Mali and created a golden opportunity for the mixture of Tuareg tribes and Al Qaeda groups to take control over all Northern Mali including its capital Timbuktu. On 04/06/2012, rebels from the “National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad” (MNLA), one of a number of militias operating in Northern Mali, comprised from Tuareg tribesmen, declared the secession of their new state, Azawad, from Mali. Shortly after, the MNLA were sidelined by Islamist groups associated with Al Qaeda, Ansar Dine (Soldiers of Law) and dropped their demands for secession (see also - Timbuktu 06.29.12). The soldiers who seized power accepted a political deal offered by the African Union - AU and allowed Dioncounda Traore, the President of the National Assembly, to take office as head of state in accordance with the constitution, but they have continued to wield considerable power. They failed to restore order and to contain the threat from Islamic Militants, armed with Libyan weapons, or to stop their advance to the capital Bamako. Initially France, the former colonial power, sent troops to Mali, allegedly only to protect French civilians and interests, but after UN Security Council, on 01/11/2013, has expressed its approval of France's military intervention in Mali. The decision followed the former 2085 resolution from 12/2012 authorising an African-led mission that could be deployed to Mali in coordination with other partners, including the European Union. France launched "Operation Serval" to push Islamic militants back from Northern Mali and specifically from the town of Kunna. Simultaneously France launched a failed rescue operation in Somalia to release Denis Allex, who was captured by the local branch of Al Qaeda, al-Shabab, along with his partner Marc Aubriere, on 07/13/2009. At least four more French hostages weree captured and held as hostages by AQIM. The first contingent of 190 Nigerian troops was due to arrive in Bamako on Wednesday 01/16/2013, as part of a regional force of more than 3,000 soldiers from Benin, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo, to line up with the French air and ground offensive launched on January 11. But most of the African states, accept Nigeria, are very ambiguous in sending troops to Mali. Two months after the last French soldier left Afghanistan, French President Francois HOlland said, on 01/15/2013, troops will stay in Mali, until "stability returns" to the West African country. * On Wednesday 01/16/2013, a Jihadi group led by Mukhtar Bilmukhtar, known as Al-Mulathamin (the veiled) ,carried out the In-Amenas Raid, in the Algerian Sahara, close to the Libyan border and took 41 foreign hostages, including French, British, Dutch, seven Americans and other nationalities. They said the attack is related to the French military operations in Mali and is seeking immediate withdrawal of the French troops from Mali. "Operation Serval" became an International issue.
* Related topics ;
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17/01/2013 10:19:25
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