FILE - Tuareg clansmen are silhouetted as they herd cattle in the land between Koygma and Timbuktu, in northern Mali, March 1997. In 2023, Cattle raiding by Islamic extremists is soaring at unprecedented levels in Mali, with jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group stealing millions of dollars worth of cattle to buy weapons and vehicles to fund their insurgency across the war-torn West African country and region below the Sahara Desert, known as the Sahel.
BAMAKO, Mali — Ayouba Ag Nadroun was at the market in central Mali in March when Islamic extremists attacked his village, killing dozens of people and stealing about $10,000 worth of his cows and camels. “We lost everything,” the 62-year-old told The Associated Press by phone from the Menaka region in the West African nation.
Cattle raiding by Islamic extremists is soaring at unprecedented levels in Mali, with jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group stealing millions of dollars’ worth of cattle to buy weapons and vehicles to fund their insurgency across the war-torn West African country and region below the Sahara Desert, known as the Sahel.
As jihadis gain control of more territory, looting is increasing and fueling conflict among already impoverished communities fighting to keep their families fed and alive, according to a recent report by The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.Despite a victory in 2013, when France sent troops in to help its former colony to drive al-Qaida-linked militants from northern areas of the country, violence has not only continued, but spread.
That’s awful.
The US has cow blood on its hands for giving al Qaeda weapons
So they are only about 150 years behind the United States West
Why call them Islamic extremists a cattle thief is a ‘rustler’ or thieves.
Wow