Armed and dangerous suspects on run
Haram could have been responsible, because some survivors of the attack had reported hearing some of the attackers speaking English. But Zounmenou said those could have come from Libya, for example.
“And Al-Mourabitoun is the only group in West Africa which can project power beyond its own backyard like this,” he said, noting the many attacks the group had carried out across a large geographic terrain.
Belmokhtar, a one-eyed commander who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, was formerly a senior figure in AQIM. Zounmenou said he fell out with AQIM’s leaders in 2012. The next year he achieved international notoriety by masterminding an attack on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in which 40 staff, most of them foreigners, and 29 jihadists died.
If the Radisson Blu attack was a joint operation between Al-Mourabitoun and AQIM, this would indicate there has been a reconciliation between them – which would be a cause for considerable concern for countries across the Sahel region. Zounmenou said Al-Mourabitoun had also conducted a spate of co-ordi- nated attacks in Niger two years ago, which hit even the capital Niamey.
“Boko Haram claims to be the West African affiliate of Islamic State but its organisation is so weak that it does not have the ability to operate outside the area of northeastern Nigeria.”
Zounmenou said Belmokhtar is a capable and ambitious terrorist who has the ability to carry out attacks right across the Sahel. He said he had been expecting an attack somewhere in the region after the Paris attacks. Mali was not an entirely coincidental target, as France has been active in the country.
It’s Operation Serval military intervention in northern Mali in 2012 beat back jihadists and Tuareg separatists which had overrun the north of the country and began marching on Bamako.
Zounmenou said the operation had activated jihadists across the Sahel region. While France had claimed victory after Operation Serval, many of the jihadists had retreated to Libya and other places, preparing to strike again. He noted this was the third recent attack in Mali and asked if the security forces had learned any lessons from the attack on a restaurant frequented by foreigners earlier this year.
Zounmenou said, in support of his surmise that the Air France crew might have been the target, that the airline had suspended its flights to Bamako. If he was right, the crew was lucky the attackers apparently did not know where they were and were stopped before they could find them.
Friday’s attack came against a backdrop of faltering efforts to consolidate the gains made by French troops – later supported by an African contingent and then a UN peacekeeping force – by securing a durable peace deal with the northern militias.
In June, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta signed an Algerian-brokered peace deal with the northern rebels which provided the best shot at stability in a long while.
The UN has been growing increasingly wary of its Mali mission for some time as it has suffered abnormally high casualties – nearly 40 killed and over 150 wounded. This is largely attributed to the reluctance and incompetence of the Malian army.
According to the journal Africa Confidential, the army has sub-contracted most of the fighting in the north to state-backed militias and French special forces which remain in the country. This is not a recipe for stability.
Zounmenou’s pointed questions about whether Keita’s government has learned any lessons from previous terrorist attacks are also pertinent in the light of growing doubt about the government’s overall competence and integrity. Africa Confidential wrote last month that: “Donors have already expressed concern about the state’s ability properly to manage and use € 3.3 billion in aid that was pledged in 2013 in the aftermath of the FrenchAfrican military intervention.”
It added that the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development had begun scrutinising the Mali government’s finances. “The scrutiny does not appear to be deterring influence-peddlers and corrupt officials, especially some close to the president.”
Zounmenou fears that more attacks are inevitable from AlMourabitoun. – ANA SOMEWHERE there’s a man bleeding and the police need your help to find him.
He’s no ordinary individual. He is a heavily armed robber who opened fire on police. They shot dead seven of his comrades. Two are in hospital under heavy police guard. But three others escaped, including the individual police officers believe was wounded in the shoot-out. They are asking hospitals and clinics to come forward with information that could help them in finding the suspects.
The men are believed to be linked to several armed robberies in the country, including one in Newcastle on Friday. There is also speculation that the armed men could be responsible for the wounding of Flying Squad officer Ashok Ramsakkan in KwaMashu last Sunday as well as in incident in Gingindlovu which left one policeman dead an another injured.
Forensic tests on the abandoned car where traces of blood were found are being used to get a clear indication of who the remaining suspect may be.
Police have been expressive about taking a zero tolerance approach after many of their officers were killed in the past week.
As of Saturday last week two policemen were killed in separate incidents while two others are fighting for their lives.
The death count of suspects has also risen as eight suspects, including the ones in the Greytown shootout, have been killed.
One suspect was killed after a business robbery in KwaMashu on Monday. Another one was shot in Empangeni last Saturday by Warrant officer Niren Ramsaroop, just minutes before he died.
Police commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni said yesterday police would not hesitate to defend themselves when attacked in the line of duty.
“Every day our police officers face the possibility of being killed when they put on their uniform and go out to serve their community. Such attacks on police officers will not deter us from carrying out our mandate,” she said.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said they were working round the clock to find the remaining suspects.
The men opened fire at police at Seven Oaks, Greytown, this weekend after police tracked them down after receiving information about the suspects’ involvement in a robbery in Newcastle on Friday.
According to a Hawks member, police took a few days to do surveillance on the gang.
“We did not sleep for a couple of days because these men were committing serious offences and moved from one place to another.
“On the day of the shooting, the suspects opened fire at the special task force unit’s vehicle. Police retaliated and killed six people,” he said.
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said members of the Task Force, Pietermaritzburg Crime Intelligence, Durban K9 Unit, Pietermaritzburg Highway Patrol, Pietermaritzburg Flying Squad and Pietermaritzburg Hawks were involved in the operation.
Charges of attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition have been opened for investigation at Greytown SAPS.
Three rifles and two handguns have been sent for ballistics testing. Two vehicles were recovered at the scene and the other found abandoned near the Pinetown area.
Police have appealed to the public to call 086 001 0111 if they know the whereabout of the suspects, but were warned not to approach them. They are armed and dangerous.