BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI, 21 NOVEMBER 2012

Abuja — The United Kingdom, yesterday, announced that it would provide needed support for Nigeria and ECOWAS in their bid to dislodge the group of face-less terrorists that have hijacked strife-torn Mali and made peace hard to come by.

A military intervention force of 3,200 troops, to be led by Nigeria, is set to storm Northern Mali, which is under severe attacks orchestrated by alleged Al Qaeda sympathisers and this had made life difficult for Malians and subsequently delayed the political transition programme.

Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja, Special Envoy to British Prime Minister on the Sahel, Mr. Stephen O-Brien, said Britain appreciated the role Nigeria was playing in the sub-region.

He said it was the same reason that made the UK government resolved to contact the country on what could be done to assist in the restoration of peace in Northern Mali.

O-Brien, accompanied by the acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Giles Lever, and two others, told newsmen that whatever assistance his country would give would largely be determined by Nigeria.

He also promised to seek further help from the international community.

Acting Minister of Defence, Dr. Olusola Obada, told the visiting Special Envoy that the ECOWAS Heads of State had resolved to send the troops to restore peace and security in the affected part of the troubled nation.

She said the menace of terrorism in the Northern Mali had been "a great concern not only to everyone in the sub-region but also to the international community."

She noted how the terrorists were making life difficult in the area and how the proposed election could not be held to allow every part of the country to be involved.

The minister was optimistic that the military intervention was an enforcement of the UN Revolution 2071 as resolved by the ECOWAS Heads of State in the region.

She said: "The resolution has been forwarded to the UN through the African Union."

She said until the crisis was resolved, the possibility of conducting election in the country was nil.

Obada said: "It would not be proper to hold election in the South, leaving the whole North out of it. If the election would hold, it has to be in the whole country."

Obada also appreciated the support pledged by the British government and further solicited for the international community.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, representatives of the Chief of Naval Staff, directors in the ministry and some top military officers.

.Nairaland:
Instead of Mali's mission, me think Northern crises mission should be our priority.

Logicboy03:


Agreed!


We have foolish leaders.

Logicboy03:


Agreed!


We have foolish leaders.

naptu2: [size=14pt]Dozens of Boko Haram help Mali’s rebel seize Gao[/size]



April 9, 2012 | 10:12 pm

News

BAMAKO (AFP) – Among the rebels controlling Mali’s northern city of Gao are dozens of Nigeria’s Islamist Boko Haram group, a regional deputy told AFP on Monday, while a security source confirmed the information.

“There are a good 100 Boko Haram fighters in Gao. They are Nigerians and from Niger,” said Abu Sidibe, a regional deputy. “They’re not hiding. Some are even able to speak in the local tongue, explaining that they are Boko Haram.”

Militants from Boko Haram “were in a majority among those who attacked the Algerian consulate” in Gao on Thursday, a Malian security official said, adding that “they had black skin”.

Seven Algerian diplomats, including the consul, were taken hostage at the time.

Witnesses interviewed by telephone from Bamako said members of Boko Haram were later seen openly driving the kidnapped consul’s car.

The kidnapping was claimed in a statement on Sunday by an Al-Qaeda dissident group, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

MUJAO is said to have broken off from the main group, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in order to spread jihad to west Africa rather than confine themselves just to the Maghreb or Sahel regions.

Boko Haram, which has also kidnapped westerners in Nigeria, has been blamed for a series of attacks over Easter weekend in northern Nigeria that left at least 45 dead.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the leaders of AQIM, was also spotted over the weekend in Gao, witnesses said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/dozens-of-boko-haram-help-malis-rebel-seize-gao/

chrisxxx: They are insensate to what we have at home. They dont see it as problems. Perhaps their relatives are never victims.

Red-Light:

broz small small o.. Perhaps u can write in pidgin u knw?

.Nairaland:
Instead of Mali's mission, me think Northern crises mission should be our priority.

jedisco:

I don't think you've been in a position of leadership before.

The fact that we have some security issues does not mean we should abandon our regional duties moreso when the country involved is a close one.
Even if we decide to abandon Mali, all we would achieve would be to provide a safe haven for terrorists to attack us at will when they're done with Mali. Just take a look at what terrorist organizations are doing to many Arab nations.

You may talk of deploying those soldiers to the North, but I hope you know our main issue there is not that of personnel number. So even if we don't assist Mali, we won't still achieve anything locally as a result of that.

Take a look at US and UK. Even with the economic recession that brought alot of hardship on their people, they were still spending alot of money in grants and charity outside their country. They would have decided to close shop until they sort out their problems.

naptu2: I'm totally in support. Fighting the militants in Mali and fighting Boko Haram are almost the same thing. Boko Haram sent fighters to assist the militants in Mali. Just imagine how much power Boko Haram would have if the islamists in Mali take over the whole country. Mali would become a staging post for islamists attacks across West Africa.

When your neighbour's house is on fire, you better help him put out the conflagration or your house will be next.

However, we need to up our game. Our efforts against Boko Haram have not really been impressive.

naptu2: In the 1990s Osama Bin Ladin operated out of Sudan until the US and its allies made it very difficult for him to do that. He moved to Afghanistan.

The US and its allies have made it difficult for islamic extremists to operate out of the middle east and south asia. The extremist are now making western africa (Algeria - Cameroun) their new headquarters. There are certain conditions in this area that make it ideal for them.

1) Ethnic, political and religious division: These divisions make it very easy for the militants to operate, while the various groups blame each other (eg in Nigeria, North vs South, East vs West, Christian vs Muslim, Buhari vs Gej, etc). This was the same situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, until the "tribes" realised that the islamic extremists are worse than their opposing tribe and also worse than the US. I pray it doesn't take us too long to figure this out. Boko Haram, if given the chance, will happily kill the sultan, buhari, GEJ, Babangida and Oritsejafor.

2) Corruption: Throw 50 naira or a hundred naira to a policeman and he would happily allow a bomb laden vehicle pass through a check point without inspecting it. Nuff said.

3) Poverty and disillusionment: It's easy for the groups to project themselves as heroes fighting against government, the US, etc. Until the people get to have a feel of the ideology/philosophy of the militants. By then it's too late.

4) Lack of technological sophistication and intellectual capacity to confront the militants.

The solution is unity. We need to unite to confront them. That's why I believe that we need to reactivate Ecomog.

Alonga: U shld understand dat top bh leader dey base in northern mali,what dey about to do is to disorganised deir base so dey will hv no were to stand for deir operation.

Logicboy03:


Agreed!


We have foolish leaders.

Logicboy03:



Stop buying into Western propaganda. The fear of terrorists can be very irrational at times. One can look at the war in Iraq.

The problem with the USA and UK is that they want to play world police. If the UK is so interested in Mali, why dont they do it themselves like they did in Libya? There is no huge profit for them in Mali and so they dont care.


By the way, the UK and USA are cutting their international charity.

.Nairaland:
Instead of Mali's mission, me think Northern crises mission should be our priority.

OkwaIfugo: Nigeria Ecomog is one of the best in africa.
but boko haram dey torment us here.

naptu2: Imagine if the islamists capture Bamako and the assets of the Malian government (planes, tanks, etc)? Do you think they'll just relax and joke around, or do you think they'll take the "jihad" further?

There were failures in Liberia and Sierra Leone, no doubt, but that's not a reason not to intervene in Mali; it's a reason to do it better this time.

Why didn't Ecomog intervene in Nigeria? Pride! That's the simple answer. The President of Niger has called for Ecomog intervention in Nigeria and Niger, but the Nigerian authorities do not like that idea.

When your neighbour's house is on fire, you had better help him put out the conflagration, or your house is next.

We saw how armed robberies increased in the south west of Nigeria (early 1990s) because of arms and ammunition from Sierra Leone and Liberia. Where was Fodday Sankoh arrested? In Freetown? Nope! In Abuja.

kaeto: sorry bro! You two loud mouths seem to be the only fools on this forum. BH is mainly an infiltration from northern Mali where al qaeda has it's strong hold in Africa. Dealing with the terrorists in Mali is a sure way to sink unfazed boko boys in Nigeria... Those who talk don't know and those who know don't talk... Why?

.Nairaland:
Instead of Mali's mission, me think Northern crises mission should be our priority.

Paul John:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201211210717.html

naptu2: [size=14pt]Osama Bin Ladin's message to Nigeria, which was published by the BBC on
Wednesday, 12 February, 2003, 00:56 GMT[/size]

The following is the full text of an audio message purported to be by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, broadcast on Arab television station al-Jazeera on 11 February.

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.

A message to our Muslim brothers in Iraq, may God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.

O you who believe fear Allah, by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden as He should be feared.

Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always, and die not except in a state of Islam [as Muslims] with complete submission to Allah.

We are following up with great interest and extreme concern the crusaders' preparations for war to occupy a former capital of Islam, loot Muslims' wealth, and install an agent government, which would be a satellite for its masters in Washington and Tel Aviv, just like all the other treasonous and agent Arab governments.

This would be in preparation for establishing the Greater Israel.

Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of affairs.

'Unjust war'

Amid this unjust war, the war of infidels and debauchees led by America along with its allies and agents, we would like to stress a number of important values:

First, showing good intentions. This means fighting should be for the sake of the one God.

It should not be for championing ethnic groups, or for championing the non-Islamic regimes in all Arab countries, including Iraq.

God Almighty says: "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil."

So fight ye against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan.

Second, we remind that victory comes only from God and all we have to do is prepare and motivate for jihad.

God Almighty says: "Oh ye who believe! If ye will help the cause of Allah, He will help you and plant your feet firmly."

We must rush to seek God Almighty's forgiveness from sins, particularly the grave sins.

Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him, said: "Avoid the seven grave sins; polytheism, sorcery, killing, unless permitted by God, usury, taking the money of orphans, fleeing from combat, and slandering innocent faithful women."

Also, all grave sins, such as consuming alcohol, committing adultery, disobeying parents, and committing perjury. We must obey God in general, and should in particular mention the name of God more before combat.

'Media machine'

Abu-al-Darda, may God be pleased with him, said: "Perform a good deed before an attack, because you are fighting with your deeds."

Third, we realized from our defence and fighting against the American enemy that, in combat, they mainly depend on psychological warfare.

This is in light of the huge media machine they have.

They also depend on massive air strikes so as to conceal their most prominent point of weakness, which is the fear, cowardliness, and the absence of combat spirit among US soldiers.

Those soldiers are completely convinced of the injustice and lying of their government.

They also lack a fair cause to defend. They only fight for capitalists, usury takers, and the merchants of arms and oil, including the gang of crime at the White House.

This is in addition to crusader and personal grudges by Bush the father.

Trench warfare

We also realized that one of the most effective and available methods of rendering the air force of the crusader enemy ineffective is by setting up roofed and disguised trenches in large numbers.

I had referred to that in a previous statement during the Tora Bora battle last year.

In that great battle, faith triumphed over all the materialistic forces of the people of evil, for principles were adhered to, thanks to God Almighty.

I will narrate to you part of that great battle, to show how cowardly they are on the one hand, and how effective trenches are in exhausting them on the other.

We were about 300 mujahideen [Islamic militants].We dug 100 trenches that were spread in an area that does not exceed one square mile, one trench for every three brothers, so as to avoid the huge human losses resulting from the bombardment.

Since the first hour of the US campaign on 20 Rajab 1422, corresponding to 7 October 2001, our centres were exposed to a concentrated bombardment.

And this bombardment continued until mid-Ramadan.

On 17 Ramadan, a very fierce bombardment began, particularly after the US command was certain that some of al-Qaeda leaders were still in Tora Bora, including the humble servant to God [referring to himself] and the brother mujahid Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The bombardment was round-the-clock and the warplanes continued to fly over us day and night.

War in Afghanistan

The US Pentagon, together with its allies, worked full time on blowing up and destroying this small spot, as well as on removing it entirely.

Planes poured their lava on us, particularly after accomplishing their main missions in Afghanistan.

The US forces attacked us with smart bombs, bombs that weigh thousands of pounds, cluster bombs, and bunker busters.

Bombers, like the B-52, used to fly over head for more than two hours and drop between 20 to 30 bombs at a time.

The modified C-130 aircraft kept carpet-bombing us at night, using modern types of bombs.

The US forces dared not break into our positions, despite the unprecedented massive bombing and terrible propaganda targeting this completely besieged small area.

This is in addition to the forces of hypocrites, whom they prodded to fight us for 15 days non-stop.

Every time the latter attacked us, we forced them out of our area carrying their dead and wounded.

'Alliance of evil'

Is there any clearer evidence of their cowardice, fear, and lies regarding their legends about their alleged power.

To sum it up, the battle resulted in the complete failure of the international alliance of evil, with all its forces, [to overcome] a small number of mujahideen - 300 mujahideen hunkered down in trenches spread over an area of one square mile under a temperature of -10 degrees Celsius.

The battle resulted in the injury of 6% of personnel - we hope God will accept them as martyrs - and the damage of two percent of the trenches, praise be to God.

If all the world forces of evil could not achieve their goals on a one square mile of area against a small number of mujahideen with very limited capabilities, how can these evil forces triumph over the Muslim world?

This is impossible, God willing, if people adhere to their religion and insist on jihad for its sake.

Iraqi 'brothers'

O mujahideen brothers in Iraq, do not be afraid of what the United States is propagating in terms of their lies about their power and their smart, laser-guided missiles.

The smart bombs will have no effect worth mentioning in the hills and in the trenches, on plains, and in forests.

They must have apparent targets. The well-camouflaged trenches and targets will not be reached by either the smart or the stupid missiles.

There will only be haphazard strikes that dissipate the enemy ammunition and waste its money. Dig many trenches.

The [early Muslim caliph] Umar, may God be pleased with him, stated: "Take the ground as a shield because this will ensure the exhaustion of all the stored enemy missiles within months."

Their daily production is too little and can be dealt with, God willing.

We also recommend luring the enemy forces into a protracted, close, and exhausting fight, using the camouflaged defensive positions in plains, farms, mountains, and cities.

The enemy fears city and street wars most, a war in which the enemy expects grave human losses.

Martyrdom operations

We stress the importance of the martyrdom operations against the enemy - operations that inflicted harm on the United States and Israel that have been unprecedented in their history, thanks to Almighty God.

We also point out that whoever supported the United States, including the hypocrites of Iraq or the rulers of Arab countries, those who approved their actions and followed them in this crusade war by fighting with them or providing bases and administrative support, or any form of support, even by words, to kill the Muslims in Iraq, should know that they are apostates and outside the community of Muslims.

It is permissible to spill their blood and take their property.

God says: "O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other."

And he amongst you that turns to them [for friendship] is of them.

Verily, Allah guideth not a people unjust.

Mobilizing the 'Islamic nation'

We also stress to honest Muslims that they should move, incite, and mobilize the [Islamic] nation, amid such grave events and hot atmosphere so as to liberate themselves from those unjust and renegade ruling regimes, which are enslaved by the United States.

They should also do so to establish the rule of God on earth.

The most qualified regions for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, [size=14pt]Nigeria[/size], Pakistan, the land of the two holy mosques [Saudi Arabia], and Yemen.

Needless to say, this crusade war is primarily targeted against the people of Islam.

Regardless of the removal or the survival of the socialist party or Saddam, Muslims in general and the Iraqis in particular must brace themselves for jihad against this unjust campaign and acquire ammunition and weapons.

This is a prescribed duty. God says: "[And let them pray with thee] taking all precautions and bearing arms: the unbelievers wish if ye were negligent of your arms and your baggage, to assault you in a single rush."

Fighting in support of the non-Islamic banners is forbidden.

Muslims' doctrine and banner should be clear in fighting for the sake of God. He who fights to raise the word of God will fight for God's sake.

Under these circumstances, there will be no harm if the interests of Muslims converge with the interests of the socialists in the fight against the crusaders, despite our belief in the infidelity of socialists.

The jurisdiction of the socialists and those rulers has fallen a long time ago.

Socialists are infidels wherever they are, whether they are in Baghdad or Aden.

'High morale'

The fighting, which is waging and which will be waged these days, is very much like the fighting of Muslims against the Byzantine in the past.

And the convergence of interests is not detrimental. The Muslims' fighting against the Byzantine converged with the interests of the Persians.

And this was not detrimental to the companions of the prophet.

Before concluding, we reiterate the importance of high morale and caution against false rumours, defeatism, uncertainty, and discouragement.

The prophet said: "Bring good omens and do not discourage people."

He also said: "The voice of Abu-Talhah [one of the prophet's companions] in the army is better than 100 men."

During the Al-Yarmuk Battle, a man told Khalid bin-al-Walid [an Islamic commander]: "The Byzantine soldiers are too many and the Muslims are few."

So, Khalid told him: "Shame on you. Armies do not triumph with large numbers but are defeated if the spirit of defeatism prevails."

Keep this saying before your eyes: "It is not fitting for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he hath thoroughly subdued the land."

"Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks."

Your wish to the crusaders should be as came in this verse of poetry: "The only language between you and us is the sword that will strike your necks."

In the end, I advise myself and you to fear God covertly and openly and to be patient in the jihad.

Victory will be achieved with patience. I also advise myself and you to say more prayers.

O ye who believe! When ye meet a force, be firm, and call Allah in remembrance much (and often); That ye may prosper.

God, who sent the book unto the prophet, who drives the clouds, and who defeated the enemy parties, defeat them and make us victorious over them.

Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire! [Koranic verse].

May God's peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and his household.

BBC Monitoring , based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2751019.stm

.Nairaland:
Instead of Mali's mission, me think Northern crises mission should be our priority.