Mali, Mauritania clean up after raid on Qaeda base

A map of Al-Qaeda activity in the West African desert. By (AFP/Graphic)

NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) - Soldiers swept a forest area in northeast Mali on Monday three days after a raid by the Mauritanian army on an Al-Qaeda base left 17 dead, including two soldiers, sources said.

The search operation in and around the Wagadou forest was a joint effort by the armies of neighbours Mali and Mauritania to flush out any remaining Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) members, said Mauritanian sources.

It came after a raid on Friday left the camp "completely destroyed", according to the Mauritanian army, which reported the base had housed heavy weapons and posed "a real threat to our country."

The Mauritanian press on Monday cried victory after the raid, saying the two soldiers killed were "martyrs."

Journalist Isselmou Ould Salihi, an AQIM specialist, said "everything points to a successful Mauritanian operation."

He referred to charred vehicles and bodies after strikes by Mauritanian aircraft and the arrest of nine suspected AQIM fighters early Sunday by the Malian army.

"However the two armies must use caution in the face of possible guerrilla warfare in the forest" he said, adding the situation could be complicated by the coming rainy season.

AQIM, Al-Qaeda's branch in north Africa, has bases in northern Mali from where it carries out armed attacks and kidnappings in the Sahel desert region where the group is also involved in arms and drugs trafficking.

Mali and Mauritania are among the countries hardest-hit by AQIM activities, along with Niger and Algeria, where the organisation has its roots. The nations work closely together in efforts to crack down on the organisation.

Since July 2010, Mauritania has carried out military operations on AQIM camps in Mali.

AQIM is holding four French citizens kidnapped in Niger in September 2010 as well as an Italian woman taken hostage in Algeria in February.