Battleground Africa: U.S. military seeks to quash terrorism before it takes root.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Special Operations - Cover story

BAMAKO, Mali -- The assault began with two-minutes of .50-caliber machine gun fire from a ridge overlooking a mock terrorist training camp.

After the gun's ammunition was spent, a flare went up signaling the beginning of the attack. Troopers from Mali's 33rd parachute regiment emerged from a line of scrub brush--one line moving up while a second provided suppressive fire.

A few paces behind the line, a U.S. special operations A-team based in Stuttgart, Germany, moved in unison to observe their progress.

The paratroopers riddled the target--a flimsy shack and a couple beat-up cars--with AK-47 bullets. Within minutes, the Malians rushed through the camp and set up a 360-degree perimeter. Special teams went through the motions of tending to the wounded, capturing prisoners and searching for intelligence.

The training was part of a State Department program, the Trans-Saharan Counter Terrorism Initiative, a $100-million-per-year effort U.S. officials hope will prevent this region from being used by; or falling under the influence of, radical Islam. The intent is to train African forces so they" can root out terrorists. U.S. European Command has spearheaded the military training component.

"This is the most realistic training we've ever received," said Col. I. Ould Issa, commander of the regiment.

It was a busy day on the African continent. At that moment, EUCOM personnel were in neighboring Niger carrying out similar training programs. Sudanese Jingaweit forces continued their attacks against minorities in Darfur, sending more refugees spilling into neighboring Chad. Nigerian rebels in the petroleum-rich delta region continued their campaign against the government by kidnapping oil workers. Ethiopian leaders, with the tacit approval of the United States, were contemplating an attack on the Islamic Courts movement in Somalia. Six weeks later, they would do so, and U.S. air strikes would follow.

As all this unfolded, President Bush received a document from the Pentagon asking that a new regional command be formed for Africa, which was divided from north to south between EUCOM and U.S. Central Command. In February, the president made it a reality.

Senior EUCOM leaders, including the commander, Army Gen. Bantz Craddock and his deputy commander Army Gen. William Ward, were vocal about their support of a unified command. The complexities of the continent require the undivided attention of a single command, they said.

While humanitarian relief and peacekeeping operations are potential missions for the unified command, preventing the rise of religious extremists, or rogue nations that could harbor terrorists, will be a primary goal.

The TSCTI has its roots in the Pan-Sahel Initiative, a counter-terrorism training program carried out in Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania--all countries with large Muslim populations. Congress renamed the initiative, gave it an $84-million-per-year funding boost and asked the State Department to expand the programs. Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria and Morocco were added. CENTCOM has a similar initiative in East Africa.

The program in Mali points to the complexities of dealing with Africa and its 54 nations. Although considered one of the most stable democracies in the region, the landlocked country has a restive north and an Algeria-based terrorist organization, the Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat, or the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat, which regularly encroaches on its territory. How many fighters the GSPC has in Mali, and whether it could radicalize the local populations, is a matter of some controversy.

Meanwhile, Malian military officials, short of funds and lacking in high-tech military gear, will take all the help they can get.

The training is important, said Col. Youssouf Goita, director of military security in the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

"But we need global positioning systems, sensors like infrared and night vision technology," he said as he sipped coffee in his office in central Bamako.

Congress, when providing guidance on the program, asked EUCOM to train rapid reaction forces within the participating nations. But questions remain on how rapid a force can be when it doesn't have a way to move troops.

The Malian army needs transportation--both air and ground, Goita said.

The vast and desolate north where the GSPC operates is the size of France. This is the heart of the Sahara desert where rolling sand dunes stretch for thousands of square kilometers.

"We need airplanes to move troops north quickly," said Malian Army spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Coulibaly. "We need all terrain vehicles and Land Cruisers. We have some vehicles for this, but not too many," he said.

The civilian government has identified education, agriculture and health as its top spending priorities. "The Army comes last," he said.

A Western military attache told National Defense the Malian air force has about 12 Russian-made MiG-21s, but only six work at any given time. It has some tanks and armored personnel carriers, but they aren't practical when taking on guerillas.

The most recent major purchase the government made for the military was a BT-67, manufactured by Basler Turbo Conversions, LLC, of Oshkosh, Wis. The utility plane is based on the DC-3. When configured as a troop transporter, it can fly a maximum of 40 soldiers, the company Web site said. Moving a paratrooper regiment up north would take three long trips.

"Probably the most operationally valuable vehicle they could have is a Toyota truck," the attache said. "And that's what they tend to ask for on a regular basis."

Providing training, transport aircraft and...