Mali attacks rise as Liberals plan mission

UN forces hit by missile strikes by al-Qaida

TORONTO • An al-Qaida faction has claimed responsibility for missile strikes aimed at UN forces in Mali as the Canadian government is poised to announce details of its peacekeeping deployment to Africa.

Photos posted on social media by Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb show two Grad missiles being fired at Timbuktu airport Tuesday, targeting what it called “French forces that invaded the lands of the Muslims.”

At Gao airport, the UN peacekeeping office was destroyed Tuesday by an explosive-laden truck, Reuters reported. The armed group Ansar Dine claimed to have attacked a French armoured vehicle with a mine Sunday.

Nobody was killed in the attacks but the intensification of the Islamist insurgency comes as the government is expected to announce it will contribute 600 soldiers and 150 police officers to a peacekeeping mission in Mali.

“We give the French invading forces and their henchmen glad tidings of more strikes with permission from Allah,” according to a translation of AQIM’s statement by the SITE Intelligence Group.

“And what is coming is more grievous and bitter.”

The missiles missed their target, landing outside the airport perimeter, Reuters reported. The Gao bombing was claimed by the AQIMlinked Al Mourabitoun, whose “goal is to spread jihad across North Africa,” according to the Public Safety Canada website.

The Long War Journal reported there had been 228 al-Qaida-linked attacks in the region so far in 2016, many of them in northern Mali. “This represents a significant increase in the al Qaeda-led insurgency in northern Mali since last year, which has also spilled over the borders more frequently than the prior two years.” TSX halted trading on six medical marijuana companies. Alex Nuttall, an Ontario Conservative MP, asked the minister if she was investigating a possible leak.

Wilson-Raybould said she has not yet seen the final report and that any leak would be investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission.

The Liberals promised to legalize pot in their election platform as a public safety issue, to keep marijuana out of the hands of children and to cut off profits to organized crime.

There was an expectation it would generate tax revenues for strapped governments, but a report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer last month suggested tax revenues would be just $618 million at the outset, with around 60 per cent going to the provinces. That number is forecast to grow as the legal cannabis market matures and production costs decline.

“A potential customer shift to a more value-added cannabis product could create a larger tax base,” the report concluded.

Producers have pushed to be allowed to brand and advertise their products, taking the position that strong brands matter in a new market.