Camel rangers patrol Sahel desert in Mauritania - to protect against extremism from next-door Mali
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#Mauritania #CamelRangers #SahelDesert #AntiExtremismPatrol #DesertSecurity #SahelRegion #CounterExtremismEfforts #MauritaniaSecurity #CamelPatrols #DesertWatch #SecurityInnovation #CounterTerrorism #RegionalStability #CommunityProtection #SahelSecurity #CamelGuardians #ExtremismPrevention #DesertSafety #MauritaniaNews #SecurityMeasures
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NewsTranscript
00:00 "Villagers always seem to celebrate when the meharists arrive.
00:08 The men on camels provide practical things like medicines, but also the sense of not
00:13 being forgotten by the outside world.
00:16 People in this remote village are keen to share their latest problem - the water pump
00:21 is broken.
00:23 Which means humans and animals have to travel to find water."
00:27 "This village here used to be full of people, but many have left because of the lack of
00:33 water.
00:34 The pump that was essential for drinking water has been broken for four months.
00:38 They submitted the problem to us and we will follow up with the leadership of the meharists.
00:43 The commander will take the best decision."
00:49 The meharists don't only act as a link to faraway authorities, they are tasked with
00:54 protecting people in these remote areas from criminals and insurgents.
01:00 They patrol desert areas near the border with Mali.
01:03 A violent conflict, including a jihadist insurgency, is raging on the other side.
01:10 The meharists want to stop it spreading.
01:13 "These people living in the desert could be targeted by the terrorists.
01:18 They could be targeted by the criminals.
01:21 We try to educate them and we stay in touch with them because we fear that some group
01:27 might change the people's minds and lead them to join these groups, which would create a
01:31 problem for the entire world.
01:35 Thank God we are always in touch with them and we tell them to let us know if they see
01:40 anything or hear anything about these groups."
01:48 The meharists are recruited from the nomad communities in the region.
01:52 They know the desert better than anyone and sometimes spend several weeks on mission to
01:57 reach the remotest villages.
01:59 "We are not tired of this.
02:03 We love this way of life.
02:05 We are happier in the desert than in the city.
02:07 We want to keep our heritage.
02:09 We want to keep this originality inherited from our ancestors."
02:14 Lieutenant Colonel Ekaar Ould Akjeel leads the brigade.
02:18 He says the meharists have helped Mauritania to minimize the terrorist threat.
02:24 "Our preventative measures, whether at a military or social level, consist of gathering information
02:31 about the enemy, collecting information about its sleeper cells.
02:35 We do this so we can intervene before a surprise attack.
02:40 So that way the prevention is better than the cure."
02:47 There hasn't been a terrorist attack in Mauritania since 2011.
02:52 For some, this is a flicker of hope in the face of ever-expanding conflicts in the rest
02:57 of the Sahel.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]