By William Tucker
Chief Correspondent for In Homeland Security
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has launched Operation Hydra in the northern regions of Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu with the goal of “putting pressure on any terrorist movement to avoid their resurgence.” Military leaders did point out that the operation was planned well in advance of the recent suicide bombing in Tessalit that killed two Chadian peacekeepers and several civilians. This operation is the largest of its kind in Mali since the French intervention to retake the north of the country from Islamist militants kicked off in January of this year. In the time since the intervention, stability has been slow to return to the north. As demonstrated by the suicide attack on the Chadian peacekeepers, the militants that have sought refuge in the mountainous border regions of the north are still capable of launching attacks and complicating the tenuous political reconciliation process taking place in the African nation. A spokesman for the Malian military stated that the operation will take place for as long as it is needed. Though that may be the case, France is slated to draw down its troop presence from 3200 to 1000 by February of next year. France has already pushed back its time table for draw down, but it is unclear if they will do so again.
Mali has fallen a long way in the last year or so, but has made notable strides in reconstituting a democratic government in Bamako, while trying to reestablish firm political control over the north. It was the fight against separatist Tuareg that allegedly prompted the military to launch a coup against the elected government in Bamako in March 2012. The ensuing chaos in the capital allowed the Tuareg seperatists and several Islamist groups to establish control over the north and eventually calling the newly “independent” country Azawad. Following the declaration, the loosely allied Tuareg’s and Islamists had a falling out leading to more violence and full on humanitarian crisis. For Mali’s neighbors, and the larger international community, the situation was unacceptable. France would take the lead in organizaing a military response to the militants in the north, while organizations such as the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) provided much needed political mediation in the capital. Though it took several months, the resulting transfer of power in Bamako and the military operations in the north did much to put Mali on the path to stability. This recent operation is vital and timely, however counterterrorism operations are an ongoing process without a definite end. Though Mali has a ways to go for nationwide political consolidation, international support has played a positive role thus far.
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