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Anti-jihadist Sahel force to push for more funding
BAMAKO, Feb 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Efforts to build a five-nation force to
roll back jihadism in the Sahel face a funding hurdle this week, with a surge
in rebel attacks providing an urgent reminder of the task in hand.
So far more than $350 million has already been pledged for the G5 Sahel
force, gathering Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — countries
in the frontline of a war against Islamist militants yet which rank among the
poorest in the world.
The money has enabled the force to set up a headquarters and command
structure and carry out two operations, with French support, in the troubled
“tri-border” area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
But more is needed to help the force reach its target of 5,000 men, pooled
from the five nations’ armies, provide training and equipment, and durably
restore authority in lawless areas.
Intended to become fully operational in mid-2018, the G5 Sahel force
operates alongside France’s 4,000 troops in the area and the UN’s 12,000-
strong MINUSMA peacekeeping operation in Mali.
The five Sahel countries will make a pitch for funds at a meeting in
Brussels on Friday.
The drive behind setting up the G5 Sahel force dates back to 2015, when
Mali’s government signed a peace agreement with coalitions of non-jihadist
armed groups.
Islamist insurgents remained active — violence spread from the north of
the country to the centre and the south, and then spilled over into Burkina
Faso and Niger.
Today, as the new force is starting to take shape, the jihadists are
becoming more sophisticated in their operations, say experts.
On February 5, the head of French military intelligence, General Jean-
Francois Ferlet, said there had been a surge of jihadist attacks in central
Mali.
The attacks “are a bit more lethal because (the assailants) are improving
their methods,” he said.
A European security expert in the Mali capital Bamako told AFP said the
jihadists had made strides in the handling of explosives.
“When a mine slices a vehicle in half like a loaf of bread, it’s no longer
a home-made device,” he said pointedly.
Jihadists have carried out killings of UN peacekeepers and Malian
soldiers. In one incident in January, 26 civilians were killed when their
vehicle ran over a landmine in Boni, central Mali.
Progress against the rebels seems meagre, if the official records are
anything to go by. The joint force’s second operation, which mobilised Malian
and Burkinabe battalions on both sides of the border from January 15-28,
listed seizures of ammunition, explosives materials and motorcycles, but
little else. – Morale –
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in a visit to the central town of
Boni, argued that the jihadists had been “driven mad” by the emergence of the
G5 Sahel and by the “fierce determination” of Malian troops.
On the ground, though, morale is a clear source of concern.
In January, 36 Malian officers deserted and a sergeant was arrested for
releasing a video in which he complained about incompetence and the lack of
military strategy.
The government promised to provide “the best conditions” for the troops
and appointed a number of senior state officials in central Mali, in a show
of support.
Hearts and minds, too, are another front for the G5 Sahel force to
conquer.
A report published earlier this month by MINUSMA’s human-rights division
found that “at least 20 percent” of recorded incidents in 2016 and in the
first of half of 2017 that endangered civilian lives involved the Malian
authorities — essentially the security forces.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0847 hrs