Mauritania

Mauritania is blessed with relative political stability compared with the rest of the region, which has several junta-led regimes.

There have been a number of political conflicts in the last few decades, with coups in 1980, 1984, 2005, 2008, and coup attempts in 1981 and 2003.

Like much of West Africa, Mauritania is threatened by the overspill of political instability, Jihadist groups, and weapons smuggling in the Sahel countries to the east.

Weapons in this region often originate from conflict zones like Libya, where the 2011 civil war led to a huge proliferation of arms. These weapons have been smuggled through porous borders and vast, ungoverned spaces in countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, making it difficult for authorities to control.

The smuggled arms range from small arms and light weapons, like AK-pattern assault rifles, machine guns, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The influx of weapons fuels violent extremist organisations like Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. These groups use the weapons to conduct attacks, control territories, and intimidate local people.

Weapon smuggling networks often overlap with other illicit activities, like drug and human trafficking. This creates a complex web of criminal enterprises that are difficult to dismantle.

HALO's work in Mauritania focuses on creating safe and secure explosive storehouses. Many of the existing weapons storage facilities have been damaged by conflict or become insecure through neglect. We're refurbishing existing structures and building a series of new storehouses and armouries.

We're also conducting a large-scale assessment or weapons and ammunition to identify what to dispose of and what should be moved to the new storehouses. We're working with the Mauritanian authorities to mark and dispose of obsolete weapons and ammunition safely, that could otherwise be trafficked.

We're training members of the Mauritanian Army, Gendarmerie, National Guard and police force in secure handling of weapons and ammunition. We're working with NATO to develop capacity of the Mauritanian armed forces in weapons security management. We also train security personnel to internationally-recognised standards to protect weapons from diversion into the wrong hands.