US Marines prep West African allies to fight ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaida

UNITED States Marines are operating in a West African country where the world’s most troubling terror groups have formed an alliance of sorts. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 6 recently wrapped up a five-week mission in Mauritania, where the Islamic State group, Boko Haram and al- Qaida have teamed up to train new terrorists at terror camps. The Marines’ mission was launched at the request of the Mauritanian government as local troops fight terrorists operating along the borders. Mauritania shares borders with Mali and Algeria, both of which have seen troubling terror attacks in recent years. Veryan Khan, editorial director for the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortiumm, a group that tracks international terrorism, told Fox News in 2015 that ISIS, Boko Haram and al-Qaida were working together in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania. “The situation in Mauritania is a powder keg very few people are talking about,” Khan told the station. The Marines in Mauritania were training local logisticians on convoy operations. The Mauritanian logistics battalion supports its army’s infantrymen as they operate along the borders. At the conclusion of the course, the Marines ran the group through a final exercise to evaluate their progress. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Mauritania’s porous borders leave the country vulnerable not only to terrorism — al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has a recent history of successful attacks — but also human trafficking and refugee movements.