The world fastest growing Islamic-led insurgency and also the most dangerous peacekeeping operation in the world has made British troops gather local forces to go through rigorous training to help fight extremism in the Sahel.
The sahel is the biographic zone of transition in Africa between the North of Sahara to the South of Sudanian savanna. Also, later this year 250 British soldiers would be deployed to Mali to help in the United Nations mission in Mali.
West African countries happen to be under threat from this Islamic militant. The Sahel is known to have been in war battling Islamic militancy for several years and decades now. There are several terrorist groups carrying out their deadly operations across the sub-Saharan region also referred to as the Sahel.
In Senegal, several forces have also been undergoing rigorous training under the supervision of Royal marines and 30 United Kingdom soldiers. This is a counter-terrorism exercise led by the United State. These special forces i.e. trained men are from some West African nations. They are said to be over 1,600 armed forces.
“If we don’t act we may find the problems getting closer to our door. The more they have a presence in the region, the more we can feel the effect back in the UK.” Maj John House who has been leading the British element of training in Senegal stated. This exercise involves troops conducting raids to search for extremists who may be hiding in villages.
According to US Maj Chris Giaquinto, the extremist in order to launch an attack on the US or Europe, are trying to make Africa their base to facilitate and nurture this attack. These terrorist groups have spread over the years to Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.
It was gathered that this British Army peacekeeping mission in Mali will expose the troops to potential threats. In fact, 200 peacekeepers were already lost to the cold arms of death.
Even some of the thousand troops from France in Mali are also suffering causalities. Since the end of combat operations in Helmand, this peacekeeping mission might be the deadliest it has faced.
