Sahel/Sahara: US anti-Al-Qaeda military exercise

By on May 4, 2010
A major joint military exercise with countries around the volatile Sahara desert region is beginning as part of a US program of counter-terrorism.
The three-week Operation Flintlock aims to improve the ability of the region’s armed forces to work together to bring security to the area.

It involves Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Chad. Other countries in the region are taking part, but in a more limited way.
The operation is part of the United States’ Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership, and European nations such as the UK, Germany, France and Spain are also involved.
About 1,200 people will take part in the exercise with about 300 of these based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where a temporary command centre has been set up.
The next three weeks will see the military personnel assembled in Ouagadougou looking at how they can better work together to counter the security threats in the Sahel and Sahara, starting with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb(AQIM) which has been responsible for attacks on Western targets in Mauritania and also hostage takings.

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