Mali declares war

The Malian armed forces are being placed on a war footing to battle the increasing threat of Islamist extremism in the north of the country. The presence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in the region has finally being put forward as a national priority issue and will be given more resources following a successful peace settlement with local Tuareg seperatist rebel groups in early 2009. AQIM have long used the porous Algeria/Mali border to train, smuggle and recruit; however, President Toures 7 July announcement that the country had declared war on the Islamists has come as a relief to many counter-terrorism officials and analysts who have identified the Sahel as a breeding ground of extremism. However, the test for regional bodies is yet to come. Islamists have shown and unnnerving tenacity in the past two decades and have survived numerous military offensives. Regional states will need to implement a strategic and unilateral offensive policy combined with a policy that meets the root causes of extremism, namely poverty and unemployment. If these factors are addressed extremism is unlikely to see another decade.