I wasn't really reading the news during my Thanksgiving break but I came back to the office today to hear a little tale about 6 people kidnapped in Mali.
Normally this kidnapping business happens in the North where the term "Mali" is used on maps but I don't think anyone is fooled into believing that the Malian government has any control over that part of the country. However this time, the terrorists dipped too low for comfort and BAM, my beloved little Mopti has now become a "red zone" and all ex-patriot staff in the city have been removed to Bamako.
Flashback to Niger and my discussion with the UN security chief which essentially amounted to the idea that "terrorists can't swim". Traditionally the shenanigans of AQIM occur north of the Niger River and everyone thought they'd never cross. The logic was that it would take too long to escape back to the safe haven of the desert, despite the fact that you could easily swim across the river. Then AQIM struck in Niamey, on the wrong side of the river in Niger, which was a game changer. Now they have done the same thing in Mali.
Poor Mopti x 10000.
It's too early to say what this means. However, as the Bamako Director told me this morning, the easy decision is to pull out all your staff, the hard decision is to put them back in.
No comments:
Post a Comment