Mauritania Faces Salafist Threat
Following the recent events in the Sahel region, the Mauritanian government has taken steps to strengthen its security apparatus to better deal with the Islamist threat, writes Kaci Racelma.
Although the Mauritanian Salafist detainees in the Nouakchott civil prison have denied any relationship with the group that call themselves “Ansar al-Sharia in the Chinguiti Country” and say they stand firmly apart from it, the Mauritanian authorities are leaving nothing to chance. They have decided to take precautions against any risk and danger Mauritania may face.
The decision-makers in the land of Almoravid have added joint military exercises to their program enhancing their security strategy. The negative effects of the crisis in Mali have been a driving force of this approach, which also plans to strengthen security by opening new command centers for the national gendarmerie in critical regions of the country.
By improving the army's performance, the Mauritanian authorities vow to strengthen their national security strategy on a large scale, while preparing for any eventuality.
The latest trend to emerge in Mauritania is jihad designed to rally militant votes in favor of establishing an entirely Islamic state. The name Ansar al-Sharia (Islamic law advocates) reflects the common denominator between several groups operating across the Arab world. The Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania converge on their goal of introducing Sharia as a system of governance. The use of force isn't excluded from Salafist rhetoric, according to which anyone who reserves the right to stand apart from their ideology is an apostate.
