Senegal Boosts Security over War in Mali

Senegal has boosted security in the capital Dakar and a northern city as a war against radical Islamists rages in neighboring Mali, police said Wednesday.

Armored cars and police vehicles were visible in downtown Dakar and police were carrying out checks on motorists in various parts of the capital, an Agence France Presse journalist said.

"Security has been reinforced in all of Dakar to secure the city. It is because of the events in Mali," a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"There are patrols with joint operations between the police and paramilitary police."

Sites where foreigners work and live were being closely watched in both Dakar and the city of Saint-Louis near the border with Mauritania, witnesses reported.

Senegal has pledged 500 soldiers for Mali as part of an African force to take over the baton from French troops leading an offensive against armed Islamists who occupied the north of the country for 10 months.