French M51 ballistic missile test fails; US must increase its intelligence- gathering capacity in Africa to counter Islamists’ and pirates’ threat
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  • According to reports, a French test of an M51submarine-launched ballistic missile failed on May 5 as it self-destructed off the coast of Brittany. The missile was test fired, without a nuclear warhead, from the Vigilant —a strategic nuclear submarine — from the Bay of Audierne at 0730 GMT and had been due to go down in the isolated north Atlantic. The French defense ministry said in a statement that it “was destroyed shortly after launch, over the ocean,” without providing further details. The M51, which has a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), was put into operation in 2010 following five successful test launches. 1
    According to reports, US Army Gen. David Rodriguez, after paying his first visit to the African continent as head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) this month, has said that the US must increase its intelligence- gathering capacity in Africa 15-fold in the short term to counter the threat posed by regional Islamic extremist groups and maritime piracy, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea. The General’s visit came as the US, Britain and some European partners consider plans to increase anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea while ramping up the training and equipping of West African partner armies to crack down more effectively on the maritime piracy crisis. There is growing concern among security analysts of a possible link between piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the financing of regional Islamist terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Al Dine, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). 2

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