Terrorism: U.S. military equipment for Mali

BAMAKO - The United States has started shipping this week, to Mali, vehicles and military equipment worth 4.5 million dollars to help the country fight Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the Sahara.

• Some dozens of vehicles, communication equipment and sophisticated military uniforms are part of the batch of material offered by the United States, during a ceremony Tuesday at the Malian Ministry of Defence.
  
      Other vehicles and equipment are en route to Bamako.
  
      Ambassador of the United States in Mali, Gillian Milovanovic said to the Malian officials present at the ceremony: these facilities "will allow your troops to move more easily, coordinate their movements and move supplies despite the long distances and the difficult terrain that characterize northern Mali.
  
      "It's thanks to a strong leadership and commitment of the senior Malian and enjoying the political and technical work of regional military partners, that the Malian armed forces, better equipped and better trained, will be successful," he added Ms. Milovanovic.
  
      Responding to the American diplomat, the Malian Minister of Defence and Veterans Natié Pléah said that gift was comes in the context of  "partnership across the Sahara to fight against terrorism"
  
      Several Western and African countries have recently increased their cooperation with Bamako to fight against the North African branch of Al-Qaeda, which multiplies the action in the Sahelian zone, mainly in Mali and Mauritania.
  
      This increased assistance in Mali, politically stable country ranked among the poorest countries in the world, came after the murder of two foreigners, one British hostage executed in Mali in May and a U.S. citizen killed in late June in Nouakchott.
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.