04-18-2018, 10:33 PM
*** 19-Apr-18 World View -- Thousands of Mali refugees flee into Burkina Faso to escape ethnic violence
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Al-Qaeda linked JNIM attacks two peacekeeper camps in Timbuktu, Mali
****
![[Image: g180418b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180418b.jpg)
Jihadists in Mali dress as UN peacekeeprs and display UN logos (Reuters)
On Saturday, Al-Qaeda linked jihadists carried out a sophisticated
attack on two separate peacekeeper camps in Timbuktu in northern Mali.
One UN peacekeeper and 15 jihadist suspects were killed while seven
French soldiers were wounded.
The most likely perpetrator was the al-Qaeda linked Jama’at Nusrat
al-Islam wal-Muslim (JNIM, Group for Support of Islam and Muslims,
GSIM). JNIM was formed in 2017 by a merger of four Mali-based
al-Qaeda linked groups, including Ansar Dine, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM), Al Murabitoon, and Katibat Macina (Macina Liberation
Front). These groups were responsible for a surge of hundreds of
al-Qaeda linked attacks in Africa's Sahel (the strip of Africa just
below the Sahara desert, separating the Arab north from Black Africa
to the south), including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The increasing frequency of JNIM attacks in the Sahel region, and the
great complexity and scale of Saturday's attack, indicate that the
capability of JNIM is growing. The jihadists, some of whom were
disguised as UN peacekeepers, arrived in vehicles bearing the logo of
the UN and the Malian army. They attacked using rocket-propelled
grenades and mortars, and detonated at least one suicide vehicle-borne
improvised explosive device (SVBIED).
They attacked two separate peacekeeper bases simultaneously. They
attacked the camp of the UN peacekeepers MINUSMA (Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission) with mortars, exchange of fire, and
a vehicle suicide bomb attack. MINUSMA was established in 2013, and
now has 11,000 soldiers. 150 MINUSMA forces have now been killed,
making it by far the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the
world.
The second simultaneous attack was on the camp of Operation Barkhane,
which was set up by the French military in 2014, and includes troops
from Mali, Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso – which operate
collectively as the G5 Sahel. The rules are different for Barkhane
and MINUSMA, in that MINUSMA is UN peacekeepers who are unarmed, while
Barkhane is soldiers who are fully armed, and authorized to use them.
France 24 and Reuters
****
**** Canada debates whether there's any point to a peacekeeping force
****
Saturday's attack has once again raised questions about whether there
is any point for Western countries or the United Nations to have a
peacekeeping force in the midst of warring parties.
This is becoming a major political issue in Canada, where the UN is
pressuring Canada to speed up its commitment to MINUSMA.
Canada finally announced in March that it will send two Chinook
transport helicopters and four Griffon attack helicopters to the
MINUSMA mission in Mali. These helicopters will replace a German
fleet of helicopters when Germany ends its commitment to MINUSMA.
The problem is that Germany plans to pull out in June, while Canada
plans to send its helicopters to MINUSMA in August. So talks are
under way for the UN either to convince Canada to deliver its
helicopters in June, or to convince Germany to delay its departure
until August.
One Ottawa columnist summarized the debate as follows:
<QUOTE>"Canada’s decision to deploy military personnel there
suggests none of the lessons learned from our 13-year war in
Afghanistan are remembered. Nor is there memory of Canadian
military involvement in the messy, inconclusive wars in Libya and
Iraq, or our involvement in the disastrous wars in Somalia, Rwanda
and the Congo. ...
Even a cursory acknowledgement of the history of the country and
the region, where “empires” were almost as numerous as the sands
of the Sahara, suggests the injection of thousands of foreign
troops will do little to settle historical geographic, ethnic and
linguistic divides, which have been sharpened by the involvement,
or more accurately, accentuation of extreme Islamic theology.
During the colonial period, formalized in 1892, the region was
called French Sudan and, at various iterations, was inclusive of
Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. In the north,
it overlapped with the southern regions of Algeria with easy,
uncontrolled connections into Morocco, Tunisia and Libya.
Some will suggest our Afghanistan experience was unique but in
doing so we easily forget the beginnings of African peacekeeping
in 1960 in the Congo. More are dying today than when the area was
the personal fiefdom of the King of the Belgians."<END QUOTE>
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this commentator is
correct. The Sahel region is headed for a war, and it makes
absolutely no difference at all whether MINUSMA or Barkhane are
operating there. The peacekeeping forces are provided for
humanitarian reasons, which is also the reason given by the UK government
for supporting last
weekend's missile strike on Syria's chemical weapons plants. AFP and Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen
****
**** Thousands of Mali refugees flee into Burkina Faso to escape ethnic violence
****
In a completely separate region of Mali, a separate crisis is brewing,
with thousands of Malians fleeing to neighboring Burkina Faso to
escape a growing ethnic conflict that has killed dozens of people in
the last month, destroying homes and other property.
The reasons for the clashes are very familiar, since I've written
about the same issues occurring in country after country.
The two ethnic groups the Dogons, who are farmers, versus the Peuls or
Fulani, who are herders. The two ethnic groups may be able to coexist
peacefully for years, but as populations grow, the farmers extend the
farms, and the herders demand more grazing land and water for their
cattle. Since the amount of available land is the same, no matter
what the population, clashes result, often leading to war.
Conflicts between herders and farmers are common in many countries,
and I've described them in Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi,
Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, and even America in the 1800s. As
population grows, the farmers accuse the herders of letting the cattle
eat their crops, while the herders accuse the farmers of planting on
land that's meant for grazing. If the farmers put up fences, then the
herders knock them down.
UN officials are becoming alarmed over the growing refugee crisis. In
just a few weeks since mid-February, some 3,000 people have already
fled across the border into Burkina Faso. The new arrivals add to
some 24,000 Malian refugees who have found refuge in Burkina Faso
since the start of the Mali conflict in 2012. UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) and Reuters and AFP (20-June-2017)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Mali, Timbuktu,
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, MINUSMA,
France, Operation Barkhane, Chad, Niger, Mauritania,
JNIM, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslim, Ansaroul Islam,
GSIM, Group for Support of Islam and Muslims,
Canada, Germany, Burkina Faso, Dogons, Peuls, Fulanis
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Al-Qaeda linked JNIM attacks two peacekeeper camps in Timbuktu, Mali
- Canada debates whether there's any point to a peacekeeping force
- Thousands of Mali refugees flee into Burkina Faso to escape ethnic violence
****
**** Al-Qaeda linked JNIM attacks two peacekeeper camps in Timbuktu, Mali
****
Jihadists in Mali dress as UN peacekeeprs and display UN logos (Reuters)
On Saturday, Al-Qaeda linked jihadists carried out a sophisticated
attack on two separate peacekeeper camps in Timbuktu in northern Mali.
One UN peacekeeper and 15 jihadist suspects were killed while seven
French soldiers were wounded.
The most likely perpetrator was the al-Qaeda linked Jama’at Nusrat
al-Islam wal-Muslim (JNIM, Group for Support of Islam and Muslims,
GSIM). JNIM was formed in 2017 by a merger of four Mali-based
al-Qaeda linked groups, including Ansar Dine, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM), Al Murabitoon, and Katibat Macina (Macina Liberation
Front). These groups were responsible for a surge of hundreds of
al-Qaeda linked attacks in Africa's Sahel (the strip of Africa just
below the Sahara desert, separating the Arab north from Black Africa
to the south), including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The increasing frequency of JNIM attacks in the Sahel region, and the
great complexity and scale of Saturday's attack, indicate that the
capability of JNIM is growing. The jihadists, some of whom were
disguised as UN peacekeepers, arrived in vehicles bearing the logo of
the UN and the Malian army. They attacked using rocket-propelled
grenades and mortars, and detonated at least one suicide vehicle-borne
improvised explosive device (SVBIED).
They attacked two separate peacekeeper bases simultaneously. They
attacked the camp of the UN peacekeepers MINUSMA (Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission) with mortars, exchange of fire, and
a vehicle suicide bomb attack. MINUSMA was established in 2013, and
now has 11,000 soldiers. 150 MINUSMA forces have now been killed,
making it by far the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the
world.
The second simultaneous attack was on the camp of Operation Barkhane,
which was set up by the French military in 2014, and includes troops
from Mali, Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso – which operate
collectively as the G5 Sahel. The rules are different for Barkhane
and MINUSMA, in that MINUSMA is UN peacekeepers who are unarmed, while
Barkhane is soldiers who are fully armed, and authorized to use them.
France 24 and Reuters
****
**** Canada debates whether there's any point to a peacekeeping force
****
Saturday's attack has once again raised questions about whether there
is any point for Western countries or the United Nations to have a
peacekeeping force in the midst of warring parties.
This is becoming a major political issue in Canada, where the UN is
pressuring Canada to speed up its commitment to MINUSMA.
Canada finally announced in March that it will send two Chinook
transport helicopters and four Griffon attack helicopters to the
MINUSMA mission in Mali. These helicopters will replace a German
fleet of helicopters when Germany ends its commitment to MINUSMA.
The problem is that Germany plans to pull out in June, while Canada
plans to send its helicopters to MINUSMA in August. So talks are
under way for the UN either to convince Canada to deliver its
helicopters in June, or to convince Germany to delay its departure
until August.
One Ottawa columnist summarized the debate as follows:
<QUOTE>"Canada’s decision to deploy military personnel there
suggests none of the lessons learned from our 13-year war in
Afghanistan are remembered. Nor is there memory of Canadian
military involvement in the messy, inconclusive wars in Libya and
Iraq, or our involvement in the disastrous wars in Somalia, Rwanda
and the Congo. ...
Even a cursory acknowledgement of the history of the country and
the region, where “empires” were almost as numerous as the sands
of the Sahara, suggests the injection of thousands of foreign
troops will do little to settle historical geographic, ethnic and
linguistic divides, which have been sharpened by the involvement,
or more accurately, accentuation of extreme Islamic theology.
During the colonial period, formalized in 1892, the region was
called French Sudan and, at various iterations, was inclusive of
Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. In the north,
it overlapped with the southern regions of Algeria with easy,
uncontrolled connections into Morocco, Tunisia and Libya.
Some will suggest our Afghanistan experience was unique but in
doing so we easily forget the beginnings of African peacekeeping
in 1960 in the Congo. More are dying today than when the area was
the personal fiefdom of the King of the Belgians."<END QUOTE>
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this commentator is
correct. The Sahel region is headed for a war, and it makes
absolutely no difference at all whether MINUSMA or Barkhane are
operating there. The peacekeeping forces are provided for
humanitarian reasons, which is also the reason given by the UK government
for supporting last
weekend's missile strike on Syria's chemical weapons plants. AFP and Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen
****
**** Thousands of Mali refugees flee into Burkina Faso to escape ethnic violence
****
In a completely separate region of Mali, a separate crisis is brewing,
with thousands of Malians fleeing to neighboring Burkina Faso to
escape a growing ethnic conflict that has killed dozens of people in
the last month, destroying homes and other property.
The reasons for the clashes are very familiar, since I've written
about the same issues occurring in country after country.
The two ethnic groups the Dogons, who are farmers, versus the Peuls or
Fulani, who are herders. The two ethnic groups may be able to coexist
peacefully for years, but as populations grow, the farmers extend the
farms, and the herders demand more grazing land and water for their
cattle. Since the amount of available land is the same, no matter
what the population, clashes result, often leading to war.
Conflicts between herders and farmers are common in many countries,
and I've described them in Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi,
Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, and even America in the 1800s. As
population grows, the farmers accuse the herders of letting the cattle
eat their crops, while the herders accuse the farmers of planting on
land that's meant for grazing. If the farmers put up fences, then the
herders knock them down.
UN officials are becoming alarmed over the growing refugee crisis. In
just a few weeks since mid-February, some 3,000 people have already
fled across the border into Burkina Faso. The new arrivals add to
some 24,000 Malian refugees who have found refuge in Burkina Faso
since the start of the Mali conflict in 2012. UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) and Reuters and AFP (20-June-2017)
Related Articles
- Jihadists attack UN peacekeepers in Mali just as UN demands that Mali implement peace agreement (27-Jan-2018)
- Burkina Faso terror attack targets France's anti-terror Operation Barkhane (04-Mar-2018)
- Jihadist attacks in Mali surge with rise of al-Qaeda linked JNIM (04-Oct-2017)
- Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) blamed for deaths of US troops in Niger (08-Oct-2017)
- France promotes 'G5 Sahel' peacekeeping force in west Africa after jihadist attacks (16-Aug-2017)
- Acting unilaterally, France sends army and air force into Mali (12-Jan-2013)
- France's new president Macron commits troops to Mali 'as long as necessary' (20-May-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Mali, Timbuktu,
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, MINUSMA,
France, Operation Barkhane, Chad, Niger, Mauritania,
JNIM, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslim, Ansaroul Islam,
GSIM, Group for Support of Islam and Muslims,
Canada, Germany, Burkina Faso, Dogons, Peuls, Fulanis
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
