Nigeria has withdrawn all of its peacekeeping troops from Mali due to the challenges of battling the Boko Haram insurgency at home. On June 2, the UN added three related Mali-based terrorist groups to its al Qaeda sanctions list: al Mouakaoune, al Moulathamoun, and al Mourabitoun. The latter, led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, was formed in 2013 by a merger of al Moulathamoun and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and is associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The first two groups were formed by Belmokhtar in 2012, and the US designated all three as terrorist entities in December 2013. A video showing French hostage Serge Lazarevic pleading for his release from his AQIM captors was published last week.
Bill Roggio is a regular guest on the John Batchelor Show from Monday through Friday to discuss the war. Check John's site for the time. Click here to listen live online at WABC.
