US considers military operation in Mali due to Russian mercenaries - WP

The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of a military operation in Mali, where Russian mercenaries are present. Officially, this operation is supposed to be directed against the Al-Qaeda-linked group "Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin," reports UNN citing The Washington Post.

Details

At the same time, there are disagreements among high-ranking US officials over whether to proceed with an attack on this militant group. According to current and former officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military planning, an active advocate for the use of force is Sebastian Gorka, Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council.

The White House also accused Russia of "ineffectiveness in the field of security and counterterrorism."

Additionally

Mali, a landlocked country with a population of nearly 25 million, has suffered in recent years from violence by Islamist militant groups, as well as from its own junta government and the Russian mercenaries it hired to establish control over the situation in the country.

Any direct US military involvement in Mali carries the risk of clashes with Russian forces in the region. It may also require efforts to avoid conflicts between Washington and Moscow similar to those that occurred in Syria during that country's civil war, the publication states.

Recall

In northern Mali, Islamist militants and separatists ambushed a military convoy, which, according to the rebels, included servicemen from the Malian army and the Russian African Corps. Dozens of people were killed or captured.