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From Our Own Correspondent: Western military intervention after Afghanistan: When can it work?

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Soldiers at a military training camp in Mahera, Sierra Leone

28/08/2021 GMT

Western military intervention after Afghanistan: When can it work?

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Western military intervention after Afghanistan: When can it work?

Our correspondent on when military interventions have succeeded, and failed, in Africa

With western troops leaving Afghanistan, the wisdom of military intervention is again in doubt. Our Africa correspondent witnessed it in Somalia, Mali, Sierra Leone and elsewhere.

There was widespread joy in Sierra Leone, when British troops helped overthrow its murderous regime back in the year 2000. American forces in Somalia, however, saw some of their number killed and dragged through the streets. Western military intervention has had mixed results in Africa, as elsewhere in the world. The BBC’s Andrew Harding, has seen it first hand in many countries on the continent. He reflects on when it works, when it fails, and when it can make a bad situation even worse.

The pull-out of American troops from Afghanistan has prompted fear among some of the country’s allies: if such a prominent mission can be abandoned, they ask, would the US really come to the rescue should they find themselves under attack? It is China which presents the greatest fear to many, with the country increasingly asserting its maritime influence by building landing strips and taking control of remote rocky outcrops. Howard Johnson took a ride with one of the Filipino fishing boats playing cat and mouse with Chinese naval forces.

When people talk about violence against Palestinians, this is usually a reference to their conflict with Israel. But for the Palestinians who have Israeli citizenship, there is another, growing threat: organised crime. Extortion, drug dealing, and other forms of gangsterism are endemic in some communities, with Israel’s police accused of standing by. Yolande Knell has been speaking to some of the innocent people caught up in the bloodshed.

It is certainly not easy to find Seychelles’ highly endangered “jelly fish” tree. Named for its unusual shape, the tree is now found only in the most remote spots. More than that, its sites are kept secret by locals, anxious that visitors might cause further damage to the last remaining specimens. Patrick Muirhead was sworn to secrecy when he was guided up a mountain to find one.

(Image: Soldiers at a military training camp in Mahera, Sierra Leone. Credit: Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)

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