Ieri siamo partiti con il primo post sul Sahel e le minaccie che da esso possono derivare per l'Europa analizzando un paese che ha contribuito non poco a destabilizzare quest'area nel 2011, la Libia.
Proseguiamo leggendo un'interessante analisi sul Mali:
In the exposed Sahel, a new failed state the size of Texas, with ominous strategic implications, emerged in Mali in 2012. This strategic threat was created initially when the secular Tuareg rebels, who fought alongside Gaddafi in Libya, returned home and joined indigenous forces to establish the MNLA.
Exploiting a March 2012 political coup in the capital of Bamako and capturing important towns in the north, including the historic city of Timbuktu, the Tuareg fighters, together with Islamic fundamentalist groups such as Ansar Dine, declared their independent Azawad state. This development sparked security concerns and outrage from neighboring countries, particularly Algeria and Niger, and international bodies including the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the United Nations.
By summer 2012, northern Mali had fallen under the control of various Salafi jihadist organizations including AQIM, MUJAO, Ansar Dine, Al-Qaida’s El Moulethemine Brigade, and the Libyan extremists of Ansar Al-Sharia. It was reported that AQIM was provided training, financial assistance, and weapons to its affiliates and had attracted an influx of recruits from the region including militants from the Polisario camps in Algeria, displaced refugees, and radicals from Western countries.
In January 2013, an international donor conference on Mali pledged over $450 million to help cover expenses of the Africa-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) and to begin development projects in the country. Interim President Traore ruled out any negotiations with the Islamists, although he did indicate a willingness to hold talks with secular Tuareg rebels.
Meanwhile in 2013 a total of 16 terrorist incidents were counted. They included kidnappings, suicide bombings, car-bomb blasts, rocket attacks, and direct assaults on police and military forces, including U.N. peacekeepers.
It is noteworthy that as an element of a counterterrorism strategy both Mali and Morocco agreed in November 2013 to create religious projects to help prevent the spread of extremism.
Similarly, in 2013 France agreed to train the Malian police force and supply it with the needed equipment to combat terrorism in the country. Moreover, Germany, along with the other European Union members, offered to train the Malian army to support their military mission in fighting terrorism.
Leggi la parte 1 (La Libia)