Mauritania is blessed with relative political stability compared with the rest of the Sahel region, which consists of several junta-led regimes. However it has a history of political conflicts and experienced coups in 1980, 1984, 2005, and 2008, and weathered serious 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 that lie to its east.
Weapons in the Sahel 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 such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, making it difficult for authorities to control.
A destroyed weapons store in Libya
The smuggled arms range from small arms and light weapons such as 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, such as drug trafficking and human smuggling. This creates a complex web of criminal enterprises that are difficult to dismantle.
OUR WORK
Weapons & Ammunition Management
HALO opened a weapons and ammunition management project in Mauritania in 2024 that will see it assist the Government of Mauritania by constructing a series of safe and secure explosive storehouses and conducting a large-scale ammunition assessment to identify items that will be moved to the newly built storehouses and which obsolete ammunition will be disposed of.
HALO will also train members of the Mauritanian Army, Gendarmerie, National Guard and Police in the international standards for weapons and ammunition handling and storekeeping.
HALO and NATO are working together to conduct capacity development of the Mauritanian armed forces, focused on weapons and ammunition security management. This follows the completion of a baseline weapons survey.
HALO works with Mauritania's authorities to dispose of obsolete weapons and ammunition, and safely store what remains. we are also marking weapons and destroying obsolete small arms that could otherwise be trafficked.
HALO is working across the region to build storehouses and armories, many of which have been left damaged by conflict or become insecure through neglect. HALO works to refurbish existing structures and build entirely new permanent and secure stores.
We also work to train security personnel to internationally-recognised standards in order to protect weapons from diversion. This includes training in weapons marking, storehouse and armoury management, and record keeping.
