After Germany’s retreat, France leads war on terrorism in African Sahel states

Shaima Hefzy

France leads an international front to combat terrorism and its financing in the African Sahel region, but with the start of the main players in the team retreating against the usual terrorist opponents, Paris continues its role as a spearhead in the confrontation.

The Sahel region is a semi-arid region that extends to 10 countries, almost reaching a breaking point. Repeated food crises and water shortages exacerbate ethnic divisions, poverty and corruption are endemic.

There are four countries that are most affected by the violence: (Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso), and international reports have proven that this arid land is fertile for terrorist groups, as Al Qaeda has worked in the region for several years, after gaining a foothold in the northern desert Mali. After the collapse of the Libyan state in 2011, ISIS followed.

Terrorist groups need funding, and they are using all the means at their disposal, including modern technologies devoted to raising and transferring funds, which prompted France in 2018 to coordinate the efforts of countries bent on identifying and financing all sources of terrorism.

The French initiative, the African Sahel Region, involved coordinating the work of the joint force of the Group of Five (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) for the Sahel region to include combating terrorism, transnational organized crime and human trafficking.

To maximize the fight against terrorism, Germany and France agreed to establish a partnership for security and stability in the Sahel region, with the countries of the region with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of efforts in the areas of defense and internal security, to improve ways of coordinating international support and to support necessary reforms in these areas.

But after years of working against terrorist groups in the region, Germany decided not to continue to support these operations in the future, and explained that “terrorism is rampant and rooted in that region.”

According to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, the German Ministry of Defense received a request from France, including Germany and other European countries, to provide support for the formation of special international forces, but the German position came decisively.

According to what we are killing, the newspaper said, “The ministry’s assessment came in a dark manner in the security situation in the Sahel region, and that jihadist groups and organized crime are responsible for the threatening situation in the region.”

Group of Five

The Five-Party Group for the Sahel region, based in Nouakchott, represents a framework for inter-governmental cooperation established on February 16, 2014, spurred by the Mauritanian Presidency and the African Union.

The Group of Five for the Sahel intends to combat insecurity and implement development activities to break the isolation of this region.

The heads of state of the five countries of the Group of Five for the Sahel officially announced the formation of the Transboundary Joint Force in Bamako on July 2, 2017 with the aim of uniting their efforts to combat security threats in the region, and the United Nations Security Council approved the formation of this joint military force in Resolution 2359, which it issued on 21 June 2017 and was supported by France.

This joint force, supported by the African Union Security and Peace Council, is tasked with combating terrorism, transnational organized crime and human trafficking in the countries of the Group of Five for the Sahel. The joint force conducted its first military operations in November 2017 with the participation of the military forces of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The full operational force includes 5,000 personnel (seven battalions spread over three provinces in the west, center, and east), and conducts its military operations 50 km from both sides of the common border.

Burkina Faso has been providing political stimulus to the joint force since 2019, while the defense ministers of the Group of Five countries are achieving strategic oversight, with financial contributions totaling €414 million, and this amount will be earmarked for the training and equipping of the G-5 army.

The Group of Five also prepared in 2014 a priority investment program that includes 40 regional projects costing €2.4 billion, including the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and airlines, expanding phone network coverage and utilizing resources such as water and agricultural projects, and the provision of electrical energy) and the emergency stabilization program that must be implemented immediately in Tmost fragile areas.

Controversy over the French presence

Although France has received losses from counterterrorism operations on the African coast, it continues to support the five nations to combat extremism.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that a summit would be held on January 13th with the heads of state of the African coast to fight terrorism, and said that the summit seeks to provide clarifications in the file of combating terrorism in this region of Africa.

France’s supportive steps to confront terrorism in the African region come from protecting itself and Europe, according to Macron’s description.