66 terrorist attacks in Africa during January

Robier al-Fares

As part of its interest in achieving peace, justice and stability and supporting the implementation of Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and the third aspiration of Agenda 2063 of the African Union, the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights issued its monthly report, titled “The lens of terrorist operations in Africa”, ​​for the month of January 2021, which dealt with terrorist operations in Africa and the resulting deaths, injuries and displacement, in addition to addressing the efforts of African governments and UN missions in combating terrorism. The Foundation also provides a package of recommendations to African governments and the international community to achieve a safe, secure, and stable Africa.

The African continent welcomed the new year with 66 bloody attacks that resulted in 642 deaths and 96 injured, not to mention the displacement of hundreds and the kidnapping and arrest of dozens, in 15 different African countries. East Africa was the deadliest region in January, with about 368 victims, accounting for 57.2% of the total victims for the month, while Sudan came at the forefront of countries in terms of the number of victims, as 207 victims were killed, and Somalia came on top of the countries in terms of the number of terrorist attacks, which witnessed 12 terrorist attacks during the month.

In this regard, Ayman Aqil, President of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, stated that after a year of monitoring and following up by the Foundation of the development and progress of terrorist operations in Africa, the situation is still getting worse. Despite the efforts made to combat terrorism, it is not in line with the growing phenomenon of terrorism in all regions of the continent.

Aqil commented on the January report, noting that the international community should exert more pressure on the Ethiopian government regarding the recent government practices, which have become bloodier in recent months, reiterating his recommendation regarding the need to open fair and thorough investigations after the deaths of hundreds of victims in the regions of Benishangul-Gumuz and Tigray.

In a related context, Basant Essam El Din, a researcher at the Foundation’s African Affairs and Sustainable Development Unit, said that ethnic fighting has become no less dangerous than terrorism and extremist ideology, as ethnic differences caused the deaths of more than 290 people in several African countries in January. On the other hand, the researcher indicated the importance of activating the principles of dialogue and raising awareness among young men and women, whether to resolve ethnic differences or to limit the spread of terrorist and extremist ideas.

It is worth noting that the continent of Africa comes within the interest of the Maat Foundation, as it is a member of the General Assembly of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union and has observer status in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as the North African region coordinator in the group of major NGOs in Africa of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.