18 PEOPLE HAD BEEN KILLED AFTER GUNMEN SEIZE A CAFE FOR HOURS IN BURKINA FASO

18 PEOPLE HAD BEEN KILLED AFTER GUNMEN SEIZE A CAFE FOR HOURS IN BURKINA FASO

United Nations: Gunmen stormed an upscale cafe overnight in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, strafing the building with bullets and barricading themselves inside for hours. By the time security forces reclaimed the restaurant around dawn Monday, at least 18 people had been killed and eight others wounded, according to local authorities.

The West African nation's communications minister, Remis Dandjinou, told reporters Monday that by daybreak, two of the attackers had been killed and several foreign nationals were among the dead. In separate statements, officials in Paris and Ankara confirmed the victims include a French citizen and Turkish citizen, while another Turk was injured in the violence.

While Burkinabe officials blamed Islamist militants for the attack on the Turkish cafe, no one group immediately claimed responsibility. "I salute the bravery of our security and defense forces whose engagement allowed us to neutralize the terrorists," Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. "The struggle against terrorism is a lengthy fight," he added. "That is why I am calling for vigilance, solidarity and unity of the whole nation to face up to the cowardice of our enemies."

In a news conference Monday, Dandjinou detailed the night's bloody events, which opened when he says about three to four militants rolled up to the cafe on motorcycles around 9 p.m. local time. They opened fire on an outside seating area outside then moved indoors, where The New York Times notes a family had been celebrating a 9-year-old boy's birthday.

The local newspaper reports the boy was hospitalized with injuries from the attack. For Burkinabes, the attack on Aziz Istanbul cafe, which is popular with foreigners, prompts bitter memories of another bloody episode just over 18 months ago. In January last year, militants conducted an hours-long raid on a luxury hotel and a cafe just blocks away from Aziz Istanbul, ultimately killing some 30 people before being dislodged by security forces.  Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a militant group based in the region, claimed responsibility for that attack as well as another deadly assault just months before in neighboring Mali.

Islamist groups have been active for years in the Sahel region, which includes Mali and Burkina Faso. As groups linked to al-Qaida have carried out attacks in the area, the Times points out that the United Nations peacekeeping mission to Mali "has become one of the most dangerous in the world." The French government which controlled Burkina Faso, then called Upper Volta, as a colony until 1960 says President Emmanuel Macron met with Kabore on Monday to discuss the circumstances of the latest attack. The pair of leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the formation of an international security force in the Sahel region to "continue the fight against terrorist groups."

AL-QAEDA-LINKED JIHADISTS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR MALI RESORT ATTACK

AL-QAEDA-LINKED JIHADISTS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR MALI RESORT ATTACK

An Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance claimed responsibility Monday for an attack on a tourist resort near Mali's capital that left five people dead, including members of a European Union mission to the country.

The Group to Support Islam and Muslims, a fusion of jihadist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links, said in a statement three of its "martyrs" had killed Westerners in Sunday's assault on the Kangaba Le Campement resort. The group, also known as Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen in Arabic, said the attackers were from the Fula ethnic group and battled for "many hours" at the popular eco-lodge near Bamako, which it termed a site of "debauchery".

Their statement was quickly picked up by extremist monitor SITE and two Mauritanian news agencies known for reporting on the region's jihadist activity, after being posted on the group's Telegram channel. Three foreigners, a Malian civilian and a Malian soldier were killed in the latest high-profile assault in north and west Africa targeting locals and tourists, including in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Witnesses said EU and UN staff raised the alert to speed up the deployment of Malian and French special forces when the shooting began at Kangaba. Some assailants had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest), according to other witnesses interviewed. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, speaking in Luxembourg, confirmed two of the victims were EU staff, a Portuguese soldier who was training troops in the Malian army and a Malian woman.

- INVESTIGATION OPENS -

Prosecutor Boubacar Sidiky Samake said other victims were a Chinese man, a Malian woman and a Portuguese man who died from bullet wounds, while a man from Cameroon died of a heart attack at the scene. Samake also announced that a criminal investigation has been opened and that Kalashnikovs, a pistol and ammunition had been retrieved from the site of the atttack.

At least four suspected jihadists have been placed in custody while four attackers were killed during the incident, Security Minister Salif Traore told. Traore said 36 hostages, mostly French and Malian, were freed, but around 20 members of Mali's Special Forces remained at the eco-lodge Monday.

Kangaba is known to be popular with expatriates. The Portuguese soldier who died was among off-duty members of the EU's army training mission in Mali, and of MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the country. A Kangaba employee described ushering clients into a hiding place, a possible explanation for the relatively low death toll compared with the lives lost in previous assaults on tourist targets in west Africa. Among those saved Sunday were two Spaniards, two Dutch and two Egyptian nationals, according to the security ministry.

- US WARNING -

Domestic and foreign forces deployed in Mali's troubled north and centre have been repeated targets of jihadist forces, but attacks on civilians in and around the capital are rare, with the last major incident in November 2015 when gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako. Samake said Monday that the Kangaba attack "bore all the hallmarks" of the Radisson Blu assault.

That siege, which left 20 people dead, led to the government imposing a state of emergency which has been in place more or less ever since. Earlier this month, the US embassy in Bamako had warned about "a possible increased threat of attacks against Western diplomatic missions, places of worship" and other places frequented by Westerners. In January, Kangaba's owner Herve Depardieu had complained about the "alarming security information" issued by foreign consulates. In a sign of Mali's ongoing instability, one soldier was killed and three wounded on Monday in the northern town of Bamba, in what the armed forces said was yet another "terrorist attack".

- NEW ANTI-TERROR FORCE -

In 2012, Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013. Since then, jihadists have continued to mount numerous attacks on civilians and the army, as well as on French and UN forces stationed there.

The unrest has continued despite a 2015 peace deal between the government and Tuareg-led rebels that aimed to tackle some of the grievances held by separatists in the north. Despite the presence of the 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission and French troops serving in a separate counter-terrorism force operating across the Sahel region, instability is growing.

France is pressing the UN Security Council to quickly adopt a resolution to fund and support a new African anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, comprising troops from Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. But Washington says the resolution is too vague. As the leading financial contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, it also wants to tighten spending.

After paying homage to victims, African Union Commission (AU) Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday described "the crucial importance of the Security Council's support to the collective efforts of the countries of the region," referring to the proposed resolution. Mogherini, who has promised 50 million euros ($56 million) to back the new force, said Monday that Europeans and Africans were "brothers and sisters" in the fight against terror.

Can NATO guarantee peace in the Middle East?

    CAN NATO GUARANTEE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ?

Odds are extremely slim that a NATO peacekeeping force will be able to guarantee Israeli security.

The recent round of terrorist attacks from Gaza again begs the question of whether Israel can rely on international (NATO) forces, as was proposed for areas in the West Bank. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s insistence that there not be Israeli security forces in the Jordan Valley is unviable as the proposal falls far short of Israel’s primary responsibility of protecting the nation’s citizens.

At first glance, a NATO force in the West Bank has several tempting elements, chief among them the idea of security for Israel without having to keep Israeli forces in the West Bank, thus not infringing on future Palestinian sovereignty there. While perhaps a seemingly sound compromise in theory, however, its implementation is very problematic.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that the odds are extremely slim that a NATO peacekeeping force, or any other international force for that matter, will be able to guarantee Israeli security, and thus allay Israel’s security concerns. For proof, one need only look back at the events of the past few decades.

Consider the history of international peacekeeping missions. Israel experienced firsthand the lack of security provided by international peacekeepers in 1967. Abdel Nasser of Egypt ordered UN peacekeepers out of the Sinai as he began amassing his army on Israel’s border, poised to attack. The peacekeepers left obediently, leaving Israel alone to face the Egyptian army.

UNIFIL, the peacekeeping force in Lebanon, did not prevent any of the rockets Hezbollah fired into Israel, nor Hezbollah’s kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers, both of which led up to the 2006 Israel- Lebanon War. Peacekeepers also retreated from their missions in Somalia and Rwanda, failing to prevent the genocides and mass murders that ensued. The Bosnian civil war paints another dubious picture for international peacekeeping.

As genocide raged, the UN guaranteed the town of Srebrenica as a safe haven for refugees and those seeking protection from the onslaught. In 1995, the 400-strong peacekeeping force stood by as thousands of Bosniaks in Srebrenica were killed.

All of this is not to say that a security agreement involving the United Nations and NATO cannot work, but that the task is enormous.

The West Bank and Jordan Valley are kept secure by Israeli deterrence and preemption capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces. It also includes tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers, many of which comprise undercover units and special anti-terror forces known to be the best in their field. There is no NATO or U.N force that would have the necessary mandate, expertise, or the commitment of Israeli troops. If the tragedies such as Srebrenica have shown anything, it is the difficulty in calling upon foreign powers to treat the security of others as if it were their own.

Israel is kept safe because Hamas, Syria, and Hezbollah all know Israel will not hesitate to send soldiers to the front lines, or conduct raids in light of suspicious activity, nor will it hesitate to fire back when fired upon. Can NATO truly guarantee that if things heat up in Jenin, or on the border of Syrian, it will do all that is necessary to keep Israel secure? Or will it more likely be a hindrance? To make matters worse, if Israel were to leave the West Bank as part of a peace agreement without leaving a military presence, there would almost certainly be an inpouring of terrorist groups. We have already seen Hamas seizing power in Gaza after Israel withdrew in 2005, and we have already seen al-Qaida enter the Sinai, despite the presence of the multinational force stationed there. Israel cannot afford for the same to happen in the West Bank, a few short miles from our major cities.

As the breakup of Syria makes the region a magnet for global jihad terror groups like al-Qaida, Israel risks inviting the same problems through the Kerry- brokered peace agreement it hopes to sign with the Palestinians. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the aftermath of the Iraq war, and the Syrian civil war are all instructive models that teach us that terrorist cells will converge on any power vacuum and establish a foothold on any acre of land left unguarded.

Lastly, just as the BDS movement currently compromises Israel’s image among her friends in Europe and America, putting NATO forces in harm’s way will do the same and complicate diplomatic relations with all her allies. This will become much more than a public relations nightmare, affecting political and economic policies toward Israel.

The world longs for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but just as important as reaching an agreement will be the agreement’s durability.

Israel’s security should be maintained only by Israeli troops as long as terror groups and dangerous, extreme ideologies still remain such persistent foes in Israel’s backyard. This will not only ensure Israel’s security, but also the permanence and longevity of the peace agreement for which we have all waited so long.

The author is The Rennert Family Visiting Professor at Yeshiva University. He was Israel’s ambassador to the United States 2002- 2006, and deputy foreign minister of Israel 2009-2013.