Sources of Mali Crisis and Causes of Military Intervention Research Paper

Sources of Mali Crisis and Causes of Military Intervention - Research Paper Example Most of them were serving in the Gaddafi army and as such carried alongside with them an assortment of arms. Also, since they had just returned from a revolutionary war in Libya, these returnees were still motivated by their combative instincts to propagate the same war in Mali3. The Malian government, as well as the military, was caught unawares by the events. Their army was too weak and incapacitated to contain the insurgents. That aside, a large group of foreign Arab fighters, who are also linked to Al Qaeda, were infiltrating Mali at the same time. It is this unfolding that supposedly inspired United States and France to push for regional military intervention in Mali through the UN Security Council. The extremist groups in Mali operating in Mali are regarded as outright threats to the security of the entire world. There are three major armed Islamist groups operating in the northern Mali. They include AQIM, Ansar al Dine, and MUJAO. The origin of AQIM is traced back to the 1990s civil conflict in the nearby state of Algeria. As per now, this group has been in existence in the northern Mali for close to a decade. It is linked with the numerous and constant attacks and kidnapping of Westerners. They do this mainly in a bid to demand for ransom for their release. In 2007, AQIM is linked with the bombing that wrecked Algeria, which also included an attack on U.N. office in Algeria’s capital Algiers. The leader of AQIM, Abdelmalek Droukdel, remains widely at large although there are reports indicating that he could be cased somewhere in Timbuktu. This group has been among United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organization for close to a decade now4.... That aside, a large group of foreign Arab fighters, who are also linked to Al Qaeda, were infiltrating Mali at the same time. It is this unfolding that supposedly inspired the United States and France to push for regional military intervention in Mali through the UN Security Council. The extremist groups in Mali operating in Mali are regarded as outright threats to the security of the entire world. There are three major armed Islamist groups operating in the northern Mali. They include AQIM, Ansar al Dine, and MUJAO. The origin of AQIM is traced back to the 1990s civil conflict in the nearby state of Algeria. As per now, this group has been in existence in the northern Mali for close to a decade. It is linked with the numerous and constant attacks and kidnapping of Westerners. They do this mainly in a bid to demand ransom for their release. In 2007, AQIM is linked with the bombing that wrecked Algeria, which also included an attack on U.N. office in Algeria’s capital Algiers. The leader of AQIM, Abdelmalek Droukdel, remains widely at large although there are reports indicating that he could be cased somewhere in Timbuktu. This group has been among the United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organization for close to a decade now. The other group is the MUJWA whose emergence is traced to in the latter parts of 2011. It was born as a splinter faction of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and is also reported to be engaged in kidnappings and terrorist attacks in the region.