At the table in Niamey: Development and combating terrorism in the African Sahel

Ahmed Adel

Africa’s Sahel and Sahara region is in a state of insecurity as a result of armed groups expanding in the region after the terrorist conflict in Syria and Iraq moved to the West African region. The Sahel and Sahara countries are trying to get out of that security stalemate, which has long impeded development in those countries.

Immediately after the ISIS attack on December 10 that targeted a military camp in Inates, Niger near the border with Mali and killed 71 military personnel, according to AFP, the leaders of the G5 Sahel countries –Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania – called for a two-day mini-summit to be held on Sunday, December 15 in Niger’s capital Niamey, which resulted in agreeing to ensure more international cooperation and assistance between member states, as well as the need to completely eliminate terrorist groups.

The closing statement of the Niamey summit stressed the need to support the UN Security Council forces and granting them a mandate to improve coordination among the joint forces, the national defense and security forces, and the allied international forces, as well as the need to strengthen coordination between the security and intelligence services to combat terrorism and transnational crime.

The statement added that the G5 Sahel leaders agreed to combat the illegal exploitation of gold, which is one of the most important sources of financing terrorism, as well as arms and drug trafficking.

France announced on Monday, December 17 that President Emmanuel Macron decided to hold a summit with the leaders of the G5 Sahel countries on January 13, 2020 in the city of Pau in southwestern France, which is aimed at reviewing the objectives of French military participation in the region, in addition to laying the foundations for increased international support to the Sahel countries.

French presence

France, as a main partner in Africa’s Sahel-Sahara region, is seeking to end terrorist organizations’ control in the region, where they have recently become major threats.

France started its war against terrorist organizations in 2013 through Operation Barkhane, which it launched in Mali, and the main goal was to prevent the spread of militants, move them from northern Mali to the capital Bamako, and turn it into a terrorist focal point. There were great successes against the terrorist organizations at the beginning of the operation, but the groups returned once again and have strengthened their presence recently.

France believes that its military presence in the Sahel-Sahara region is costing it dearly, whether financially or with lives. Operation Barkhane in Mali alone costs an annual €700 million. There are also major problems from French opposition media claiming that Paris seeks to protect its colonies in Africa, in addition to the spread of false news about the reality of the operation.

In November 2019, President Macron urged NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to focus on combating terrorism in the Sahel-Sahara region, calling for military support from NATO in light of the security dilemma due to the terrorist groups deployed in the region.

Terror in the Sahel-Sahara

The Sahel and Sahara region is one of the main hotbeds of terrorism in Africa, with al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists taking advantage of the deteriorating security situation and the ability to freely move among countries such as Mali and Niger, as tens of thousands of local residents were forced to flee due to armed attacks and sectarian conflicts.

Al-Qaeda also has a strong presence in the African Sahel region, as it managed to form its largest alliance in the world, known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), which was established in March 2017 as a result of the merger of four terrorist movements in Mali and the Sahel region – Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front, Al-Mourabitoun, and al-Qaeda’s Emirate of the Sahara Region.

African affairs researcher Nasser Mamoun Issa told the Reference that he believes the countries of the Sahel-Sahara region are now beginning to groan from the threats of armed groups that turned the region into Syria and Iraq.

Issa stressed that the wheel of development will remain stalled due to these threats by terrorist organizations that stand in the way of the Sahel-Sahara countries and rob them of natural resources such as gold and oil. He added that France should pay close attention and provide more troops, as well as cooperate with other international powers in the intelligence field.