Malian armed forces have received the first batch of 53 vehicles from Algeria that are meant to be used in the country’s efforts in fighting jihadists in the Sahel region. The vehicles were handed over by the Algerian ambassador Boualem Chebihi.
The vehicles include logistics, combat, ambulance, and troop transport vehicles and are a follower-up donation after a shipment of weapons and ammunition from Algeria in May. The weapons ad up to the building up military vehicles and equipment inventory that has been expanding in the past few years as the country continues to struggle with a growing threat posed by both al Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated militants seeking to establish caliphates in the Greater Sahel region.
The donations come as the leader of AQIM was killed leaving a power vacuum that is could quite possibly trigger intra-fighting among the various al Qaeda affiliated groups in the region. Furthermore, a previous truce between Al Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated groups operating in the region has supposedly fallen apart which increases the terror threat in the region seeing as both groups will start fighting for territory will outmatching each other. Therefore, the batch of vehicles and weapons from Algeria will bolster the fight against violent extremism not only in Mali but also in the Sahel region which Mali contributes troops for a multi-national taskforce.
