PROVIDING SECURITY IN THE SAHEL: A 'TRAFFIC JAM' OF MILITARY INTERVENTIONS, AND AL QAEDA TERRORISTS
Signe M. Cold-Ravnkilde
Despite the presence of multiple military actors in West Africa’s Sahel region, a steady growth in jihadi activity seems to thrive in the presence of foreign military operations. With their focus on fighting cross-border terrorism and reconstructing ‘failed states’, while failing to adequately address local grievances, these military operations risk producing the danger they aim to abate.
On January 10, 2013, as jihadist factions advanced south and threatened to attack Mali’s capital, Bamako, France launched its ‘relatively small-scale expeditionary operation’ Serval, at the request of Mali’s interim President, Diocounda Traoré . At the peak of Serval’s initial combat operations, close to 4,000 French troops were present in Mali. While the French .....
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/traffic-jam-military-interventions/5704917