“TRAINING for terrorism is like having car insurance, you hope you have it, but never have to use it.” So says the FBI attaché to Senegal, shortly before blowing up a car. The dusty black Suburban SUV was in good condition: one officer looked sadly at the tyres, musing that they could still be useful. But by then the Feds had already filled its boot with 15kg of American military-grade explosive and topped the tank with petrol.
The explosives section of the Senegalese military-training camp is in a thorny valley tucked between low hills. Hawks swoop overhead and land on endless baobab trees. The parched terrain is strictly no-entry to humans, though herds of long-horned cattle and spry ruminants still roam there. As a former high-level American defence attaché suggests: “It’s best not to kick anything on the range.”
America, Senegal and Mauritania are co-hosting Flintlock, a month-long counterterrorism training exercise to which 30 militaries from the continent and beyond are invited. This year, the exercise includes the first-ever attempt to incorporate law enforcement agencies into the drills.
Senegalese police,...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1Tc0Xmx
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