Fears for Mali After French Leave
The heaviest engagements with islamist terrorists so far have been taking placein the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains with French and Chadian troops. The New York Times (NYT) notes that the fighting is being done by French and Chadian troops,whilst African troops from Ecowas have been asigned a peace keeping role and have been slow to arrive.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Fears-for-Mali-...
Both the French and American governments are concerned that Mali may still remain a haven for terrorists after the French forces leave. America spent $550 million training some units of the Malian army over the last four years and has little to show for it. US drones are now being used over Mali.The Malian army remains divided and disorderly and the French general leading the effort to train the Malian army says it will take a huge effort and a longtime. There are questions as to whetherunderequipped African troops will ever be effective against Islamists guerilla forces trained in desert fighting. The Chadian army has proved itself in desert warefare and may form the centre of any new deployment against the Islamist terrorists after France withdraws.
A counter terrorist expert quoted by the NYT doubts that any amount of training will adequately prepare African troops to fight against the terorists and that an ongoing committment will be required. France is likely to maintain a small counter terrorism force after the bulk of their forces withdraw.The plan is for African troiops to take over and it is likely that this would be under a UN manadate for a rapid reaction force of 10,000 troops to ward off terrorist attacks. The troops will have to be able to engage in desert conflicts and counte rterrorism . Whilst Europe and the United States would like to restrict their presence they may have to be more involved.
A counter terrorist expert quoted by the NYT doubts that any amount of training will adequately prepare African troops to fight against the terorists and that an ongoing committment will be required. France is likely to maintain a small counter terrorism force after the bulk of their forces withdraw.The plan is for African troiops to take over and it is likely that this would be under a UN manadate for a rapid reaction force of 10,000 troops to ward off terrorist attacks. The troops will have to be able to engage in desert conflicts and counte rterrorism . Whilst Europe and the United States would like to restrict their presence they may have to be more involved.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Fears-for-Mali-...