Sahel Security threat mobilises the international community
The UN is holding a summit this week on the Sahel convened by the Secretary General Ban –Ki Moon. The destabilizing effects of the terrorist threat are being felt not just in northern Mali but the whole of the Sahel region is affected by insurgency and terrorism.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Sahel-Security-...
The Summit on the Sahel is being held in New York on the sidelines of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly reflecting the "awareness" of the international community of the urgent need to act within of a "common strategy" to deal with the emergence of a "real problem of international security." The UNSecurity Council has been considering the situation for sometime. Up for discussion is the protracted proposal for an ECOWAS force to be sent to Mali. A request by President Dioncounda Traore has been sent to ECOWAS and forwarded to the UN who has hesitated to supported without a viable plan of action.
There is also resistance to the ECOWAS force in Bamako by the still influental ex Junta faction who fear that the ECOWAS force could be used to call them to order so the Malians have denied ECOWAS a presence in Bamako which the ECOWAS force needs for its logistical supply base. ECOWAS leaders have voiced their increasing frustration with the situation wondering out loud who is really in control. The massacre of 16 islamic preachers by the Malian army has raised increasing questions about the viability of the Malian army and ECOWAS has prevented an arms delivery from Guinea from reaching Bamako.
France has declared its logistical support for the ECOWAS force which reports sqy would include special forces.
President Francois Hollande is under increasing pressure from the family's of French hostages held by Al Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb (AQIM). The reality of an increasing terrorist pressence with groups such as Mujao
and Boko Haram from Nigeria where yet another Catholic church was blown up yesterday, is at last apperaing
to concentrate minds. AQIM and its allies threaten Europe and the region andLaurentfabius and others have talked about an armed solution to the terrorist threat. As President Traore talks of negotiating with the terrorists and restoring the Malian army as a fighting force the African intervention proposition is beginning to look less likely.
Faced with Algeria's unwillingness to intervene militarily with the Sahel armies Europe may have to face the decision to deal with the terrorist threat itself with special forces whether or not Bamako approves. The risk of allowing AQIM and its allies to continue its activities is too great. Whether the US will also intervene as Niger requested recently will have to be seen. With cash strapped economies the US and Europe shrink from military involvement but special forces and drones could be used succesfully as they have in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. America may also be clearing the decks for a possible conflict with Iran and focusing its forces more in Asia to confront a perceived threat from China.
The Sahel is facing a catastrophic environmental and humanitarian crisis; malnutrition and drought threatens to make the region a permanent recipient of international aid as refugees inrease in numbers. The time for action is come .
There is also resistance to the ECOWAS force in Bamako by the still influental ex Junta faction who fear that the ECOWAS force could be used to call them to order so the Malians have denied ECOWAS a presence in Bamako which the ECOWAS force needs for its logistical supply base. ECOWAS leaders have voiced their increasing frustration with the situation wondering out loud who is really in control. The massacre of 16 islamic preachers by the Malian army has raised increasing questions about the viability of the Malian army and ECOWAS has prevented an arms delivery from Guinea from reaching Bamako.
France has declared its logistical support for the ECOWAS force which reports sqy would include special forces.
President Francois Hollande is under increasing pressure from the family's of French hostages held by Al Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb (AQIM). The reality of an increasing terrorist pressence with groups such as Mujao
and Boko Haram from Nigeria where yet another Catholic church was blown up yesterday, is at last apperaing
to concentrate minds. AQIM and its allies threaten Europe and the region andLaurentfabius and others have talked about an armed solution to the terrorist threat. As President Traore talks of negotiating with the terrorists and restoring the Malian army as a fighting force the African intervention proposition is beginning to look less likely.
Faced with Algeria's unwillingness to intervene militarily with the Sahel armies Europe may have to face the decision to deal with the terrorist threat itself with special forces whether or not Bamako approves. The risk of allowing AQIM and its allies to continue its activities is too great. Whether the US will also intervene as Niger requested recently will have to be seen. With cash strapped economies the US and Europe shrink from military involvement but special forces and drones could be used succesfully as they have in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. America may also be clearing the decks for a possible conflict with Iran and focusing its forces more in Asia to confront a perceived threat from China.
The Sahel is facing a catastrophic environmental and humanitarian crisis; malnutrition and drought threatens to make the region a permanent recipient of international aid as refugees inrease in numbers. The time for action is come .
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Sahel-Security-...