In this article from Reuters linked from Breitbart, you'll see an inordinate number of denials that the French have troops on the ground in the north African country of Mauritania but I'm sorry, I don't believe it - I truly think there were at least some French special ops involved in this latest operation in which military forces caught al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb out in the desert and were able to surround them - the end tally was 12 dead al Qaeda, 2 dead Mauritanian military and 4 wounded Mauritanian soldiers.
From the article:
From the article:
Mauritanian military forces killed 12 members of al Qaeda's North African wing and suffered two fatalities in fighting in the desert along the border with Mali, a Mauritanian security source said on Saturday.The al Qaeda stepchildren in the North African theater have had a bit more of a penchant for kidnapping than other franchises but that is mostly because they are dirt poor and need ways to try build up some funds. At the same time, I do believe that al Qaeda worldwide is starting to run into some financial issues as more and more of their financial pipelines have been cut off at the source.
The clash is the latest sign of an escalation in the battle between Saharan countries and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the chief suspect in the kidnapping of seven foreigners, including five French citizens, in Niger on Thursday.
The fighting continued on Saturday as Mauritanian forces encircled around 20 AQIM vehicles in the border area, the Mauritanian source told Reuters. In addition to those killed, four Mauritanian troops were also wounded in the fighting.
"The operation was launched because the opportunity presented itself. It was not planned long in advance," said a second security source in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott who knew the background to the mission.
The French Foreign Ministry said there was no connection to Thursday's kidnappings, in which a French employee of nuclear firm Areva and his wife were seized.
"This action is independent of the kidnapping of Areva employees. There are no French forces on the ground," a ministry spokesman said in Paris.
Mauritania says 12 Qaeda members killed in clash
(Reuters) - Mauritanian military forces killed 12 members of al Qaeda's North African wing and suffered two fatalities in fighting in the desert along the border with Mali, a Mauritanian security source said on Saturday.
The clash is the latest sign of an escalation in the battle between Saharan countries and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the chief suspect in the kidnapping of seven foreigners, including five French citizens, in Niger on Thursday.
The fighting continued on Saturday as Mauritanian forces encircled around 20 AQIM vehicles in the border area, the Mauritanian source told Reuters. In addition to those killed, four Mauritanian troops were also wounded in the fighting.
"The operation was launched because the opportunity presented itself. It was not planned long in advance," said a second security source in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott who knew the background to the mission.
The French Foreign Ministry said there was no connection to Thursday's kidnappings, in which a French employee of nuclear firm Areva and his wife were seized.
"This action is independent of the kidnapping of Areva employees. There are no French forces on the ground," a ministry spokesman said in Paris.
The seven hostages are believed to have been taken to Mali, a source in the Nigerien military told Reuters after an army search operation on Friday.
Security experts say al Qaeda allies are building a base in the desert region that straddles the porous and thinly policed borders of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania after being squeezed out of traditional patches along Algeria's coast.
MINING DOUBTS
French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed in July to punish AQIM for executing a 78-year-old French hostage after a joint Franco-Mauritanian commando raid failed to free him. AQIM in turn has said it would avenge its fighters killed in the raid.
The group has not claimed responsibility for Thursday's brazen kidnapping of foreigners in Niger's northern uranium mining zone, which has raised fresh doubts about the security of Western mining operations in the region.
Neither France nor the mining firms gave details of how the workers were seized but a local businessman and a source in the mining industry in Niger told Reuters the foreigners were taken while they slept in their houses in the town of Arlit.
Among the hostages were five employees of Vinci, whose subsidiary Sogea-Satom is a contractor in the region.
The French Foreign Ministry urged its nationals on Friday to quit danger zones in Niger and an Areva executive said the company had called some of its staff back from Arlit.
Areva employs 2,500, the bulk of them locals, at three mine sites in Niger. Niger hopes to become the world's No. 2 uranium producer when the Imouraren mine comes on line in 2013 or 2014.
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