Europe gave them 250 camels ... the desert soldiers in Mauritania ... 116 years on camels

Treasurer strand

The introduction of the European Union 250 camel in favor of the camel unit of the National Guard would not have been exciting, had the news been 116 years ago, when this military sector was created to be the first regular military unit in the land of the desert that has not been known for centuries other than camels and a way to travel vast distances and map life.

However, as the year 2020 approaches, the "camel" battalion appears to be an interesting element for the press and bloggers in Mauritania and opens a page of security and military history for Mauritania.

The Europeans chose to offer 250 camels equipped with their traditional pastures and they promised them - or, as ancient Arabs say, 250 camels with their letters and their feelings - and they were received by the Commander of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Miskaro Ould Lghwisi.

The handover ceremony took place in an area called Ashimim in the far east of Mauritania, where camels are still a means of transportation in the countryside and an important wealth that the villagers are competing for.

Flexibility and mobility
"The mobile gathering can - given its flexibility, its ability to move and the appropriate means - to play a pivotal role in securing the remote areas where the gathering has been embodying the state's authority and providing the necessary services for the benefit of people and animal property," said the commander of the National Guard Staff, Lt. Gen. Mesqaru Ould Lghwizi.

He added that this assistance "will increase the level of performance of the mobile gathering of the National Guard, which will in future be assigned new missions in light of its operational capabilities and the threats that the Sahel region continues to witness."

Between camels and F16
While the European aid represented by dozens of camels has won the approval of the official authorities, it has sparked widespread criticism among Mauritanian bloggers, some of whom saw in their acceptance a violation of the sovereignty and "dignity" of the country and the remains of pride in it.

Blogger Bashir our sheikh Mohammadi wrote, "Even the camels that are never lacking and which - over the centuries on this land - represent a symbol of our heritage and our sovereign pride, (...) Some of our officials have become so overlooked that they are not considered symbolic and are not ashamed to ask them to buy them for the National Guard ( The Jamalite Brigade, in particular), through humiliating interrogations at the European Union ... and here are European deputies who intend to laugh and laugh in Brussels that they have bought camels for the army of a "country" called Mauritania!

Blogger Mohamed Ould Cheikh asked, "Why do the Europeans equip their armies with F16s, the latest technology, and give our camels a camel, which is fighting terrorism in the region ?!"

Another blog wrote, "The problem is that we do not need it, one drone is capable of performing the mission of four hundred camels and their price does not cost five hundred thousand ounces (about two thousand dollars)."

Other bloggers defended the move, seeing in it the strengthening of the capabilities of a military sector and the documentation of the relationship with an important partner, the European Union.

Are you ashamed of beauty ?!
Journalist and blogger Sheikh Bikai wrote, "The value of 250 camels of good quality with the nomads and some other equipment exceeds one hundred million ounces (about $ 285 million) .. It is the first batch of equipping a beauty unit .. What is the problem with this, who are you ashamed of?" The second batch of camels with my thanks to the European Union ... ".

Other bloggers chose to focus on another dimension related to the connection of the Europeans to the desert’s desert, where writer and researcher Ibrahim Al-Duwairi drew to a historical anachronism mentioned by the historian Ibn Khalkan (681 AH / 1282 CE), that the Europeans did not know camels before the site of Al-Zallaqah (479 AH / 1086 AD), because when I "crossed The armies of Yusuf bin Tashfin crossed at the end of it and ordered the crossing of camels, so he crossed over them from what cropped the island and her lungs rose to the sky, and the people of the island had never seen a camel or their horses had seen their pictures or heard their voices, and they were terrified and worried, and Youssef bin Tashafin was in transit A right opinion, his camp was staring at, and it was attended by war, it was Khie L the Franks refrain from it. "

Al-Duwairi concluded his post by saying, "Today is the house of time, and the Europeans are now guiding the descendants of Ibn Tashfin camels and camels, and your Lord is doing what He wills and chooses!"

Comms
The camel unit is closely related to a paramilitary faction established by the French colony at the beginning of the last century, and it has been called communes and they are a group of agents and assistants of the French army in the desert land. Some Mauritanians translate the word "komites" into "the people of the nation".

The Mauritanian scholar and historian Sidi Ahmed Ould Al-Amir notes that the demarcation of the system of military assistants (Goumes) as well as the beauty system (Méhariste) was carried out by the French Colonel Henri Batte, who was governor of Mauritania during the period from January 1, 1910 to March 1 March 1912.

He adds that Patti formed three groups of "nationalities" and four teams of camels, and entrusted these systems with guarding the country's entrances and exits, forcing the population to provide supplies of yields, milk, and meat, and securing transportation from camels, oxen, donkeys, and so on, which facilitates the operations of the French army's actions. And auxiliary forces.

During the colonial period, the beauty and komite teams carried out various tasks from fighting to guarding the colonial security and administrative headquarters, and a number of their members participated in the French army during the two world wars, and a number of them continued to receive retirement salaries after the French left Mauritania.

In the confines of the state
With Mauritania attaining its independence from the French colonizer in 1960, the Jamal Battalion continued its work, as one of the most important mobile battalions of the National Guard, which was established on May 30, 1912 by the French colonial, and is considered the oldest military apparatus in the country, and has been for decades It is the only military sector in it, and it is also the first body in which Mauritanians served after the country was occupied by France.

The camel battalion maintained under the national state to perform security and information tasks, in addition to social tasks in assisting the Bedouins and providing social service in areas where there is less water, and its members also contribute to extinguishing rangeland fires.

The camel maintains the traditional costume of loose-fitting, traditional pants ending in half-legs and a suitable shirt, and they obtain military ranks similar to those of their colleagues from various sectors of the National Guard.

The beauty lends a symbolic character to the military parades organized by the army and the National Guard in Mauritania.

Beauty shares two contradictory contexts in Mauritania, while some Mauritanians consider them an essential part of the memory and symbolism of French colonialism, others see them as a remnant of the history of Mauritanian nomads, and the memory of conquest and walking in vast desert areas whose camel was the only ship that crossed the seas of the Sea of ​​Sand.