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Four jihadist prisoners escaped the central prison in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott on Sunday night after an exchange of gunfire there in which two national guards were killed, the interior ministry said.
“The National Guard has tightened its control over the prison and immediately started tracking down the fugitives in order to arrest them as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency early on Monday.
Two other guards were wounded, it said. The identities of the escaped prisoners were not given.
After the escape, which the ministry said took place at 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) Sunday, it asked people to report any information that might help in arresting the fugitives.
According to a military official speaking on condition of anonymity, two of the prisoners had been sentenced to death, while the other two were awaiting trial for membership of a terrorist organisation.
The same person said their vehicle had been found northeast of Nouakchott.
The death penalty has not been enforced in Mauritania since 1987.
Jihadist attacks rare
There have been no jihadists attacks in Mauritania since 2011 but the country shares a border with Mali, where a jihadists insurgency that began in 2012 has spread to other Sahel countries.
The absence of attacks on Mauritanian soil—as well as statements made in the United States—has fuelled suggestions that a secret non-aggression pact exists between Nouakchott and the jihadists.
The United States claimed to have found documents in 2011, in the Pakistani cache where former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed, that mentioned an attempt at rapprochement between the group and the Mauritanian government in 2010.
The government refutes this.
In 2005, Islamist groups expanded in Algeria, a neighbour to the north and Mauritania began to come under attack.
In 2008, the former head of presidential security, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, took power by force and a year later was elected president.
Any qualms that Western countries had about his rise to power were put to one side.
Given the numbers of Mauritanians in emerging jihadist groups in northern Mali, the sense was “the jihadist threat could spread to Mauritania”, a French expert told AFP in 2020.
Abdel Aziz, who stepped down in 2019, is currently on trial in Mauritania on charges of abuse of office, influence peddling, money laundering and illicit enrichment.
Under Abdel Aziz’s regime, France and, to a lesser extent, the United States sent instructors to support anti-terrorist units and strengthen Mauritanian intelligence.
Battle of minds
The Mauritanian authorities, for their part, began investing in training and retaining soldiers.
Military spending increased, providing better and newer equipment, soldiers’ pay was paid directly into the bank rather than through officers, and soldiers were given welfare benefits.
The border has been tightly policed, whereas in other Sahel countries, porous borders are a notorious weak point.
At the same time, Nouakchott launched a battle of the minds to deter vulnerable young people from joining the jihadists.
In 2010 a dialogue between leading Muslim scholars and around 70 jailed jihadists led to around 50 of the detainees repenting.
Some were sent to talk on television and in mosques, preaching to young people about the perils of jihad.
More than 500 imams were recruited and youngsters were offered vocational training after they left Islamic schools, giving them the chance of earning a living.
In an effort to spur economic activity and better provide local services, authorities also spearheaded the creation of new towns in the desert, including Nbeiket Lahwach, Termessa, Bouratt and Chami.
In other Sahel countries, poverty and the vacuum of the state have provided the jihadists with opportunities.
(AFP)
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