Mali Attack Latest to Rattle Global Security

From cafes in Paris to the teeming markets of Nigeria, in tourist resorts on the Sinai peninsula and now a glitzy hotel in the dusty capital of Mali, the message Islamist terrorists sent to the world over the last several weeks is that no one — almost anywhere — is safe.

The attack Friday, in which armed gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako and swept through the rooms, leaving an estimated 20 people dead, targeted a key region of French anti-terrorism operations in Africa only a week after Islamist attackers launched a wave of shootings and bombings across Paris.

The attacks in Paris, for which the militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility, seemed to signal a sharp escalation of the Syrian-based organization's ability to project lethal mayhem far outside the Middle East, particularly when combined with the bombing last month of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula — an attack that also is being linked to Islamic State.

But Friday's attack in Mali underscored that Islamic State's rival Al Qaeda and its affiliates remain a serious threat. A group led by Al Qaeda's most notorious leader in northern Africa, Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claimed responsibility for the deadly hotel assault.

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But Bill Roggio, author of the blog the Long War Journal, about the global war on terrorism, said Al Qaeda remained dangerous.

“I would argue that Al Qaeda is as great a threat as it was the day before 9/11. Today, it's running insurgencies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Egypt. … We can go on and on. When you put all that together, it's impossible to come to the conclusion that Al Qaeda has been neutralized,” he said.

“They want to kill French. They want to kill Americans. It's part of their strategy to get everyone out of the country so they can get control,” he said, referring to Friday's attack.

He said there was a risk that rivalry between Islamic State and Al Qaeda could see each vying for recruits and finances by mounting increasingly spectacular and violent operations.

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