The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering conducting military action against an al-Qaeda affiliate in Mali, which, if carried out, would mark the eighth known country bombed by the US since President Trump returned to power last year.
The report said there is disagreement among Trump officials over the potential military intervention, and named Sebastian Gorka, a British-born former radio host who currently serves as senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, as a vocal advocate for military force in the administration.
Gorka also pushed for the US to escalate its air war in Somalia, and he got his wish, as the Trump administration has carried out a record-shattering number of airstrikes in the country, attacks that are ignored by US media, but there is little to show for the escalation as al-Shabaab has continued to make advances against the US-backed government.
The al-Qaeda-linked group in Mali, known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam, or JNIM, has been waging a major offensive along with Tuareg separatists, formally known as the Azawad Liberation Front, against the Mali government, which took power in a 2021 coup and is backed by Russia.
The US’s ally Ukraine has been on the other side of the conflict, as it’s known to have provided drones and intelligence support for Tuareg militants fighting against the Malian military and Russian mercenaries.
When asked by the Post if the administration intends to take military action in Mali, a White House official told the paper that terrorist activity in the Sahel is a “multinational problem” and urged “regional partners and NATO allies to support the Alliance of Sahel States in their war against JNIM and ISIS.”
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is a confederation of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, three West African countries where military juntas ousted governments that had maintained close ties with Western countries and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The official suggested the administration may attempt to peel Mali and other countries in the region away from Russia, saying that Moscow “has proven to be an ineffective security partner for Mali” and that the US hoped “that other African nations take note of Russia’s terrible performance in combating terrorism.”
