Sahel region: New battleground for international coalitions, terror groups

By Fatma Esma Arslan

DAKAR, Senegal (AA) - The Sahel region, stretching across Africa from Senegal to Djibouti, has become a hotbed of terror groups in the past decade.

The conflict-ridden Sahel belt connects Africa’s Atlantic coasts eastward through Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan.

The Al-Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh affiliated groups carry out attacks that kill a large number of civilians every year in the Liptako-Gourma region of the Sahel, which includes portions of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

These terror groups generate revenue from drug and fuel smuggling.

Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which are considered to be among the poorest countries in the world, are unable to allocate sufficient resources to their armies to fight these terrorist groups.

- Terror groups advanced from cities to countryside

While the history of terrorism in the Sahel region dates back to the Algerian Civil War between 1991 and 2002, the process that made the region "the epicenter of terror in Africa" started with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya in 2011.

The Insurgent Al-Tawariq (Touareg) group, which returned to Mali after the overthrow of Gaddafi, took control of the north of Mali in 2012.

Operation Serval, which was launched in the region in 2013 after the Mali administration asked for help from France, weakened the control of the rebel armed groups in the northern cities.

Although the armed groups lost control of the north, they did not completely withdraw and managed to maintain their presence by repositioning in the rural areas.

Although France’s Operation Serval was considered a success, the armed groups began to carry out their activities in scattered groups in the “neglected areas” of Mali as well as Niger and Burkina Faso instead of in big cities.

The lack of investment in rural areas and the grievance of the locals allowed the groups to strengthen their hold.

One of their most successful tactics was to approach ethnic groups who felt they had been ignored by the state.

By fanning enmities between rival ethnic groups and recruiting their members, they began to gather support.

Local interventions to root out terrorism have so far been insufficient due to the military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso and the fact that senior soldiers are engaged in politics instead of the battlefield.

- International, regional missions pack up

Both international and regional operations and missions have been trying to combat terrorism in the Sahel region since 2012.

These operations, most of which were carried out in Mali, were terminated and the missions are leaving the country one by one due to the issues experienced by the junta administration that came to power in 2020.

Operation Serval, which took its name from a special cat species living in West Africa and the Sahel, kicked off in 2013.

It was followed by Operation Barkhane, which means sand dunes formed by the effect of the wind in the desert, in 2014. As part of Operation Barkhane, a total of 5,500 soldiers were deployed in Mali, as well as in Niger and Chad.

Barkhane, which was supported by Mauritania and Burkina Faso, became the longest military operation carried out by France outside its territory after the Algerian war.

Due to the crisis with the Bamako administration, France will end Operation Barkhane in Mali by the end of 2022.

- MINUSMA loses power

The Takuba Task Force, also known as the European Task Force, which was established in 2020, terminated its operations in Mali on June 30.

Although the UN’s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is still active in the country, the Western countries began to withdraw their personnel from the mission due to the harsh statements of the junta administration.

Deployed in the northern and inner parts of Mali, MINUSMA has more than 15,000 soldiers and police officers from 61 countries.

Sweden announced that it would withdraw its soldiers by the beginning of next year and Norway abandoned plans to send a contingent of troops to Mali.

Finally, Germany announced last week that it temporarily suspended its military mission in the country. The EU also suspended its training missions in Mali this April.

Mali withdrew from the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which aims to fight terrorism in the Sahel, in May.

- Target: Guinea Gulf and Senegal

Despite all these military missions and operations, the terror groups continue to maintain their presence in the Sahel and open up new areas for themselves.

It is known that Al-Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh affiliated groups have been trying to advance to the Gulf of Guinea for a while.

Their main objective is to gain sea access by advancing to the Ivory Coast, Benin, and Togo in the Gulf of Guinea.

Here, Benin and Togo have been the target of at least four terrorist attacks since the beginning of the year, and a state of emergency was declared on Togo's border with Burkina Faso.

Senegal, where 70% of the population lives in coastal cities, stands out as another very strategic location for terrorist groups seeking sea access.

Senegal hosts the West Africa offices of many international institutions, particularly the UN, and it is considered a "sophisticated target" for extremist groups.

Extremist elements are almost nonexistent in Senegal, with the Islamic understanding dominated by Sufi teachings.

On the other hand, it is also stated that terror groups have been recruiting youngsters from rural areas for various "trainings" in Mali and Nigeria and will send these young people back to Senegal "when the time comes."

- Half of terrorist attacks in Sub-Saharan Africa

According to the Global Terrorism Index 2022 data, 48% of the world's terrorist attacks took place in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021. The Sahel, on the other hand, became the region with the highest increase in deadly terrorist attacks in the world.

Daesh is registered as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world, and at least 15 people are killed in each attack by Daesh-linked groups in Niger.

While only 1% of the victims of terrorist attacks in the world were in the Sahel in 2007, this figure increased to 35% in 2021.

Last year, 732 people died in Burkina Faso, 574 people in Mali, and 588 people in Niger due to terrorist attacks.