New York Times: Jihadists Deepen Collaboration in North Africa
SAHARA DESERT, Niger — A group of light armored vehicles skated over the moonscape of the Sahara, part of one of the largest detachments the French military has deployed here since colonial times. Its mission is growing ever more urgent: to cut smuggling routes used by jihadists who have turned this inhospitable terrain into a sprawling security challenge for African and international forces alike.
Many of the extremist groups are affiliates of Al Qaeda, which has had roots in North Africa since the 1990s. With the recent introduction of Islamic State franchises, the jihadist push has been marked by increasing, sometimes heated, competition.
But, analysts and military officials say, there is also deepening collaboration among groups using modern communications and a sophisticated system of roving trainers to share military tactics, media strategies and ways of transferring money.
WNU Editor: Radical Islam is their common bond .... and it is becoming very clear that after the Middle East and the Pakistan/Afghanistan border that the next breeding ground for radical Islam is North Africa (if it is not there already). The only difference is that in terms of geography .... this region will be a very easy place to hide and to grow.
"I don't think they're gaining strength. What is true, from the start our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them. They have not gained ground in Iraq and in Syria they'll come in, they'll leave. But you don't see this systemic march by ISIL across the terrain."
ReplyDelete-Barack Obama Conmedian Extradinaire
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/11/13/obama_on_isis_we_have_contained_them.html
France can't outlive its colonial past in North Africa, but it can't be successful. The locals are motivated by ethnic and religious rivalries and they don't care about France and its precious uranium mines.
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