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Tuesday, September 21, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Mauritania mounts first anti-terror air strikes
on bases in Mali

CAIRO — For the first time, Mauritania has launched air strikes against Al Qaida.

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Officials said the air strikes were ordered and supervised by Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz. They said the operations were approved by the central government in Mali, which has virtually no authority in the rebel-held north.

Officials said Mauritanian combat aircraft conducted sorties against the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. They said the targets for air strikes were located in neighboring Mali.


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"The operations were successful," an official said.

So far, Mauritanian Air Force combat planes struck AQIM vehicles in northern Mali. Officials said the air strikes, the first by Mauritania in years, marked an offensive against AQIM in Mali launched in mid-September.

Mauritania did not identify the models of the aircraft that participated in the strike on AQIM. The Air Force, said to have 250 personnel, does not contain any fighter-jets, but rather a handful of U.S.-origin Basler BT-67 and Cessna-337 transport platforms. Italy and China have also exported aircraft to the Mauritanian military.

Mauritania's military has been aided by France and the United States. Algeria has also offered to help its North African neighbor.

Officials said the Mauritanian Army has also been shelling suspected AQIM bases in northern Mali. The air and artillery strikes were reported in Timbuktu, about 900 kilometers northeast of the Mali capital of Bamako.

In 2010, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger began forming a joint military command to fight AQIM. Mauritania has contributed officers to the so-called Joint Operation Military Committee with six other North African states.



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