Analysis-Rise in Al Qaeda attacks revives spectre of West African caliphate
By Anait Miridzhanian DAKAR (Reuters) -At dawn on June 1, gunfire shattered the stillness of Mali’s military base in Boulkessi. Waves of jihadist insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked group stormed the camp, catching newly deployed soldiers off guard. Some troops, unfamiliar with the base, which lies near Mali’s southern border with Burkina Faso, scrambled to find…