Hamra is located north of the Atuila Desert and is the name of a small village. Its terrain is relatively elevated, and from here, one can gaze southward to admire the boundless expanse of the desert.
Song Heping was on his first visit to Mali; he had heard a lot about it before he even arrived.
For the ten countries in the Sahel Region, even though so many years had passed since World War II, the flames of war here had yet to be quelled.
Terrorism, political upheaval, conflicts between farmers and herders, ethnic tensions, separatist movements, the struggle for natural resources, and illegal trade were factors that tore the people here into bitterly opposing sides.
Especially after Western countries launched what they called a global counter-terrorism operation in the Middle East and Afghanistan, a large number of local armed forces began to migrate to the Sahel Region of Africa, joining the armed groups here or establishing branches to cultivate their own influence.
