Al Qaeda in Mali still a serious threat

Washington Times:

Haidara Aissata, the lone woman in Mali's parliament, picked up the phone earlier this month to the anguished cries of a young mother who just learned her husband had sold the couple’s 9-year-old son to al Qaeda fighters for $40.

The boy was taken to a training camp where he would be indoctrinated into Shariah law and fight against French troops seeking to repel the terrorists’ grip on the West African nation.

SEE RELATED: Terror in Timbuktu: A trip through the heart of Mali

Ms. Aissata — who stands out in Mali’s male-dominated politics as much for her beauty-queen looks as her impassioned oratory — tells the story frequently as she travels the globe these days trying to dispel the notion — fanned by some Obama administration officials — that al Qaeda is weakened and on the decline.

To the contrary, the terror network has inspired and trained al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb throughout northwest Africa, along with its Mali offshoot, Ansar Dine, and both are gaining strength and “infecting the continent like a cancer,” Ms. Aissata told The Washington Guardian.

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Gen. Carter Ham says the group is also trying to get a foot hold in Tunisia   The French operation has dispersed the al Qaeda operatives in Mali, but they have escaped to fight another day.