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| Africa North |
| French Anti-Jihadist Forces Seize Mali Arms Stashes |
| 2015-11-10 |
| [AnNahar] The French army has seized "significant" caches of weapons during an operation in northern Mali, where it is helping local forces battle jihadists, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday. Around 1,500 French troops are deployed in Mali as part of the fight against al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups which took control of the country's north in 2012. Le Drian, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a security forum in Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... 's capital Dakar, said the operation targeted "identified trafficking zones" as well as the sites of stashed weapons. He said the operation involved "fairly strong action" but no combat. Large parts of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces, despite the French-led mission launched in 2013, and last month three French special forces soldiers were maimed in a landmine blast in the north. The troops in Mali are part of a 3,000-strong French force fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane. While jihadist attacks in Mali were previously concentrated in the north, they have spread to the center and south of the country this year. |
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