US trains West African militaries as jihadi threat spreads

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — As extremist violence in West Africa’s Sahel region spreads south toward coastal states, the United States military has launched its annual military training exercise which will help armies contain the jihadi threat. Soldiers from several African countries are being trained in counter-insurgency tactics as part of the annual U.S.-led exercise known as Flintlock, that began this week. Some 1,300 military personnel from 29 countries are training in Ghana and Ivory Coast, amid surging jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands and displaced millions. While most of the extremist activity is concentrated in West Africa’s inland Sahel region in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the violence is rapidly spreading to coastal states like Ghana.