India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

American counterterrorism officials are reportedly considering new measures to combat the Al Qaeda militants in Mali , which is increasingly emerging as a sanctuary for the terrorist group. The Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, have managed to establish a significant presence in the north of Mali, in the western part of Africa, in recent times and have also taken advantage of a power vacuum left by a military coup in the capital earlier this year. Officials in the U.S. have been working with European allies to develop plans to respond to the growing Al Qaeda presence in Mali , but the effort has been hindered by a suspension of U.S. military assistance to Mali , which was funded by the Pentagon and the US State Department, after the coup by Mali military officers in March. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. counterterrorism officials said that for now, AQIM militants in Mali seemed to be focused on local and regional issues, rather than on using the haven to plot attacks against America . Islamist militants recently took control of Mali 's ancient city of Timbuktu and demolished tombs inside the city's oldest mosque, raking up pressure on West African neighbors to restore order in the troubled nation, the paper said. Gilles de Kerchove, the European Union's counterterrorism coordinator, said that once a new government is elected, the European Union (EU) would be ready to help reorganize the Malian army with the goal of enabling the country's forces to be re-deployed in the north. Michael Sheehan, Assistant U.S. Defense Secretary for Special Operations, said the U.S. "can't allow al Qaeda to sit in ungoverned space" in the north of Mali, adding that a "whole range of things" were under consideration by American and allied officials, including "perhaps operating in ungoverned space."

US mulling over new ways to counter Al Qaeda in 'emerging terror haven' Mali