France Takes on AQIM in Mali
By William Tucker
Late last week reports began to emerge of a raid by Mauritanian troops on a suspected base of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) located across the border in Mali. The ostensive purpose of the raid was to free a French aid worker that had been captured by the group. Since that time the French have came out and stated that they had between 20 to 30 troops on the ground for the raid. AQIM on the other hand has stated that nearly 50 French troops participated in the raid and some had been killed in the course of combat. While AQIM did provide a list of names of the soldiers they claim to have killed on a known militant website we do not have any independent confirmation at this time. The French involvement in the matter was clarified by France's Prime Minister François Fillon saying that, "We are at war with al Qaeda and that's why we have been supporting Mauritanian forces fighting al Qaeda for months." This raid may not have gone as well as Paris would have liked, but one thing is for certain - France isn't going anywhere.


