Mali: the worth of African troops MISMA?

International Mission Support in Mali (MISMA) shakes (here in Bamako, a company of the Nigerian Army,  Finally. In an emergency, after months of diplomatic negotiations within ECOWAS.

France has responded to the call with the Malian government. But she looks forward to handing over, at least in the first line, the African force which should rise to 2,000 troops by January 26, as the Malian army need to be trained.

Remains to fund and organize the famous MISMA ... Especially since it is "the total conquest of Mali".

The dialectic during the French side is very accurate. It is systematically put forward troops of the regular army Mali notoriously disorganized and poorly equipped. But on Monday, when it comes to evoke the reconquest of Diabaly Douentza and the Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, chooses his words carefully: "The Malian army advanced towards the towns held by their enemies is a success for certain military government in Bamako and the French forces intervening in support of these operations. "

Phrases carefully chosen to avoid offending Mali, for fear of return on dubious charges "French" leave the door open outlet if adverse events should continue. So we summarize: the Malian soldiers advance, these are their enemies, the French are in support. Which is probably far from the reality on the ground.

Very quickly indeed, 450 mentors of the European Union (with about 200 French BIMA the 9th and 3rd BM, mechanized brigade) should begin EUTM Mali (European Union training mission), mission training Malian forces. A little late to the events ...

Will he the same with the African force, the MISMA (International Mission Support Mali)? First thing, the ECOWAS countries (European Community of States in West Africa) feel the urgency finally recognized Saturday in Abidjan during the tenth meeting of the Malian case.

"The operation Serval does not aim to replace the MISMA"

A French company will provide 50 boats Libyan army

Sillinger, shipyard based in Mer (Loir-et-Cher), has won a contract worth several million to provide 50 fast boats to Libya on Monday announced its parent.

The contract includes semi-rigid (polyester shell, pneumatic floats) ranging from 3.80 m to 12 m. They are intended for the Navy and Coast Guard Libya, said a spokesman for the parent company, the group Marck. The order is valued at several million euros, it added, without giving further details.

This family group has bought last summer the group FASIA Industries. This acquisition provides a

Forces of the African Misma expected in Mali

Economic Community of the States of West Africa (ECOWAS) has formed an intervention force, in accordance with resolution 2085 of the Security Council of the UN, to help Bamako to regain control of northern Mali, busy by armed Islamist groups. This force, the International Mission Support in Mali (Misma) will be headed by a Nigerian general, Shehu Abdulkadir. Chad, which is not part of ECOWAS, has also promised to send a contingent of 2000 men. In total, more than 5600 soldiers from the African continent should be made in Mali and eventually taking over the French army.

Since January 17, some 150 African troops arrived in Bamako. By January 26, 2000 should be to have joined the Malian territory. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Désiré Ouedraogo Kadré, has urged the international community to "mobilize" to complete the financing of the Misma. According to him, a "preliminary assessment" is required to "500 million dollars" (some 375 million). The European Union has decided to participate in the funding of 50 million euros.

For its part, France has deployed 2,000 men in Mali, a figure that will soon reach 2,500 soldiers. The French operation commenced on January 11 Mali "is not intended to replace the action of Misma," said the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, January 19, at the opening of a peak on the West African Malian crisis. African force should be deployed "as soon as possible, and this is the object of our meeting," he added.

The European Union agreed on Jan. 17 to deploy a mission to train and reorganize the Malian army, composed of 450 men, including 200 teachers, from mid-February.

Here are the details of the participating African countries Misma:

Nigeria : 1200 men

On January 17, fifty Nigerians arrived in Bamako on the quota of 1,200 men promised Abuja. A staff is already present in the Malian capital.

Togo : 540 men

The 17 January 40 Togolese soldiers arrived in Bamako on the total quota, an infantry battalion of 540 men.

Niger : 500 men

The battalion is currently stationed in the region Ouallam (north of Niamey), near the Malian border.

Has Algeria Spoiled U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategy In North Africa?

Algerian Stance Spoils U.S. Strategy For Region 

The hostage crisis in Algeria has upended the Obama administration’s strategy for coordinating an international military campaign against al-Qaeda fighters in North Africa, leaving U.S., European and African leaders even more at odds over how to tackle the problem.

For months, U.S. officials have intensively lobbied Algeria — whose military is by far the strongest in North Africa — to help intervene in next-door Mali, where jihadists and other rebels have established a well-defended base of operations. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other high-ranking U.S. officials made repeated visits to Algiers in the fall in a bid to persuade the oil-rich country to contribute troops to a U.N.-backed military force in Mali.



But Algeria’s unilateral decision to attack kidnappers at a natural gas plant — while shunning outside help, imposing a virtual information blackout and disregarding international pleas for caution — has dampened hopes that it might cooperate militarily in Mali, U.S. officials said. The crisis has strained ties between Algiers and Washington and increased doubts about whether Algeria can be relied upon to work regionally to dismantle al-Qaeda’s franchise in North Africa.

“The result is that the U.S. will have squandered six to eight months of diplomacy for how it wants to deal with Mali,” said Geoff D. Porter, an independent North African security analyst. “At least it will have been squandered in the sense that the Algerians will likely double down on their recalcitrance to get involved. They’ve already put themselves in a fortress-like state.”

Answers needed on CAR deployment - DA

South Africa’s latest deployment in support of African peace and stability, in the Central African Republic (CAR), has come under fire, in part due to its stated R65 million cost.

David Maynier, Democratic Alliance MP and Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, wants to know why capacity building of the Central African Republic (CAR) defence force needs “elite combat formations” such as the Parachute Regiment and the Special Forces Brigade.

He has also questioned the deployment cost given by President Jacob Zuma in his letter to National Assembly Speaker, Max Sisulu, on January 7.

Maynier maintains SA National Defence Force (SANDF) elements have been deployed into “the middle of what amounts to a civil war in CAR. There is surely little opportunity for the South African soldiers to assist with, for example, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the CAR defence Force.

“Moreover, if the reason for the deployment was simply to provide assistance with these tasks why use the Parachute Regiment and Special Forces Brigade? It unfortunately creates the impression the SANDF was deployed to provide support for President Francois Bozize.”

"Crimgo" starts to attack the pirates of the West African

Given the persistence of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the European Union has decided to initiate a new project to strengthen " the safety and security of maritime routes "between African countries of the Gulf. Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, responsible for Development, has just announced on Thursday (January 10). The region suffers, indeed, currently a " lack of coordination between the Coast Guard and among different regions "says it does on the European side. In addition there is no "common standard yet maritime training and the sharing of information between countries is insufficient" . A view shared by most experts on the subject, according to our information.

A persistent risk of piracy

While piracy tends to dry up in eastern Africa, it continues to exist and even grow in the west. The latest incident is not far away. End of December, three Italian sailors of MV Asso Ventuno were taken hostage off Nigeria, they have just been released on Wednesday (January 9th), officially "without paying ransom" (? . Nothing in Nigeria, some 98 acts of piracy, armed robbery committed at sea and marine pollution were recorded between 2008 and 2012. everything in a region that has a strategic interest for Europeans. According to economic data, the Gulf of Guinea " is currently 13% of imports of oil and 6% of gas imports in the EU . "

Training and Information Network

CRIMGO program - that is his name - as "critical maritime routes in the Gulf of Guinea" - will have two main lines of action: 1) training of coastguards, 2) the establishment of a network for the exchange of information between countries and agencies in the region. It should be implemented in seven countries in West Africa (Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo). And it will be conducted primarily by government departments in several countries (France, Portugal, Spain, UK) and universities (Finland, Italy, Poland) (*). The budget made at the European level is 4.5 million Euros. Start: as soon as this month announced the DG Development.

The 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division prepares soldiers for Africa

Having trained thousands of U.S. troops for deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the trainers of the 162nd Infantry Brigade will prepare their comrades for another theater. The first unit to pass through the hands will be the " Dagger Brigade "( 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division ) will provide AFRICOM's first deployable conventional forces in countries like Libya, Sudan, Niger, Algeria, Kenya and Uganda. Start training in March.

Click here to read my post of July 2.

Click here to read an article on the preparations for the 2nd Brigade.

These conventional troops will load missions training and assistance for the benefit of African armies and, possibly, may be engaged in combat missions in the framework of the fight against terrorism. Missions that will have the green light from the Secretary of Defense, as well as those who will implement the brigade drones.