Mali & Mauritania threats

Due to increased activities by the terrorist group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the US Department of State continues to warn of the risks of travel to Mauritania as well as to Mali and to recommend against all travel to northern Mali and throughout the Sahel region due to kidnapping threats against Westerners.

On June 24, Mauritanian security forces, with assistance from the Malian army, conducted a raid against an al-Qaida camp in the Wagadou forest region in northwestern Mali, killing 15 AQIM members. On July 5, AQIM retaliated by attacking a military base in Bassiknou, near Nema, in southeastern Mauritania. After a counterstrike by Mauritanian forces, the attackers fled toward Mali.