Our military is making an effort to stem the tide of jihadists flowing out of Africa into Iraq and elsewhere. From CNS News, with thanks to Nicolei.
Nairobi, Kenya – United States Marines and Special Forces are in West Africa for counter-terrorism training with 3,000 African troops amid concerns that terrorists have regrouped in the region.
The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) initiated the joint military training, known as Operation Flintlock, which began last week.
The joint training comes in wake of a recent attack by Algeria’s Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) against a Mauritanian military post. The assault left 15 Mauritanian troops and nine terrorists dead.
The attack is believed to be the first by the al-Qaeda-linked group outside its Algerian homeland.
Intelligence reports say the group and another, the Moroccan Combat Group, are attempting to establish a foothold in the region.
The GSPC is believed to have spent about $7 million, which it obtained in ransom for releasing 17 European tourists kidnapped in 2003, on surface-to-air missiles, heavy machine-guns and mortars.
Reports said the group also bought satellite-positioning equipment to enable it to conceal weapons in buried caches in the Sahara Desert, and later return to access them.
Operation Flintlock aims to help countries in the region reduce weapons smuggling and stop extremists finding havens around the Sahara, EUCOM’s Major Holly Silkman told reporters in Senegal…
EUCOM’s officials said about 25 percent of the nearly 400 foreign fighters captured in Iraq were from Africa…