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| Africa: North |
| New fighting between Mauritania and GSPC |
| 2005-06-13 |
| Renewed clashes between Mauritanian soldiers and Islamic militia have been reported in the desert area near the border with Mali. Mauritanian sources, quoted by Arab daily al-Bayane, say the violence erupted on Sunday night and the Mauritanian army bombarded bases of the Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and attacked militants of the "Cavaliers of Change" opposition group, considered responsible for three failed coup attempts in Mauritania. A Mauritanian military source said that in recent hours the government had decided to intensify the presence of its military in the area; in particular soldiers have been deployed along the border areas with Algeria and Mali, to tackle the Algerian Salafite guerillas. The Mauritanian government decided to send new troops into the north of the country after the 4 June attack in which 18 of its soldiers were killed in a commando raid on their base by Islamic militants. The GSPC, in a statement published on an internet site, claimed responsibility for the attack. The UN's IRIN news service reported that tens of thousands of people protested in the capital Nouakchott last week responding from a call by the ruling party to protest the terrorist attack on the military camp. The increase in tension in Mauritania coincided with the start of US-led counter-terror exercises in the area. The training exercise began last Monday in Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and, for the first time, Algeria. Twelve-man U.S. special forces teams will conduct infantry training with African units and carry out border patrols, as well as instruct on human rights and the laws of land warfare. Five other countries will take part in the second phase. On June 16, officials from all nine countries will participate in a "command post exercise" in which they'll be given a terrorism scenario and be asked to solve it together. Terror analysts say the 4 June attack in Mauritania involving the al-Qaeda linked GSPC reflects strains in the relationship between the Algerian terrorist formation and the international network.They say that the GSPC took responsiblity for carrying out the attacks on the detachment of the Mauritanian army in an attempt to get back in favour with al-Qaeda, which the analysts allege has lately been distancing itself from the GSPC, due to the high number of defections in its ranks. The stand-off is said to have started April when Tunisian police arrested ten alleged terrorists heading to the Algerian mountains to join guerilla training camps. The ten were reportedly preparing a major attack against the capital Tunis, but Tunisian police managed to uncover the cell as a result of informants within the Algerian Salafite group. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |