Foreigner Kidnappings are Fueling the Sahel Crisis.

On Tuesday the 23rd of September, last year, armed gunmen stormed compounds in the Kula Kora region of Bali, about 40 kilometers from the capital of the market. There they abducted Sheikh Abed bin Maktum bin Juma al Maktum. It's a long-ass name, my dude, a 78-year-old member of Dubai's ruling family.

Two other men were taken with him, an Iranian and an Emirati. From multiple reports, the attack appears to have been precisely targeted, and the victim carefully chosen because of his wealth and connections.

The group behind the raid was Jamart Nusrad al-Islam, while Muslimim, or Genim, an al-Qaeda affiliated insurgent group that has been wreaking havoc across much of the Sahel.