Sudan at Boko Haram’s crosshair, gov’t vows to secure borders

Ahmed Adel

The Sudanese government said on Friday it plans to set up a joint force of armed forces and police to tackle possible challenges on the western border, especially threats by the Boko Haram militant group.

According to the Sudan News Agency, President of the National Support Party, Mohamed Hassan Khaled, said that there is an official agreement to form this force to carry out a campaign on the border between Sudan, Central Africa, Chad and Libya to protect and guard the borders, as well as to combat illegal migration and human and trafficking.

Opposition politician Mohamed Esmat told Russia today that there are suspicious moves by Boko Haram to infiltrate Sudan. adding that the security and military agencies should pay attention to the statements made about the infiltration of elements of the terrorist group to the country, and work to investigate this matter.

In September, Sudan’s transitional government ordered the immediate closure of the nation’s borders with Libya and Central African Republic citing unspecified security and economic “dangers”.

A statement by the Sovereign Transitional Council said vehicles had been illegally crossing the borders with the two nations, which have both been mired in violence.

Sudan has often complained about arms trafficked through its borders as conflicts have left governments with little or no control of security over swathes of their territory.

The US military command in Africa, AFRICOM, warned of the penetration of an increasing Daesh influence in the West African region, from within the cloak of Boko Haram, which seeks to increase its influence and expand further.

If regional counterterrorism efforts fail and Boko Haram and Daesh-West Africa receive sufficient funding, AFRICOM warned, the groups would begin exerting territorial dominion over much of northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin — including de facto control over portions of Cameroon and Niger.

Amira Abdel-Halim, an expert on African Affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Reference in an interview that there is a number of regional powers that supports the spread of terrorist organizations, especially Boko Haram, to destabilize Sudan.

Boko Haram began operations in Nigeria, but later spread to neighboring countries, particularly Niger, Cameroon and Chad, which borders Sudan’s Darfur region.

She further pointed out that by expanding from west Africa to the east of the continent means that terrorist groups are spreading even further, and will likely plot schemes of discord and violence in Sudan.