Technology: ‘Weapon of terror’ in the hands of African Sahel terrorists

Ahmed Adel

Terrorist organizations in the African Sahel are working to dominate the technology available in that region to increase the pace of armed operations, as well as to recruit new elements, as the organizations use satellite communication devices, social media accounts, and laptop computers, in addition to drones, to create a state of integration with the human element available in that region.

Flying explosive devices

In an attempt by ISIS to establish its presence in that region, the organization has turned the drones present in the Nigerian market into flying explosive devices, which is a technical step that could threaten military and civilian targets.

The organization’s West Africa Province worked to promote it through its channels on Telegram and WhatsApp, in addition to recruiting new militants using smart phones and satellite technology in light of the spread of high-speed modems known as Thuraya.

Until recently, this technology was available for Thuraya in the Nigerian Lagos region, the stronghold of terrorist elements, but with the security emphasis on it, the organization found what it needed in Chad, which suffers from very weak security and therefore the availability of Thuraya devices in it.

Electronic theft of the plans of the armies

Nasser Mamoun Issa, a researcher in African affairs, said that the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security, which was held at the end of 2021, alerted to the danger of the terrorists of the African Sahel possessing the capabilities of the national armies in the region, and it also warned that the terrorists of the Sahel and Lake Chad now have technological elements that enable them to electronically rob the armies of the region and influence their actions, whether by detecting pre-emptive moves and strikes or thwarting security arrangements, which is a qualitative development that would increase the capabilities of those groups to threaten the countries and peoples of the region, as well as make it difficult for them to be targeted by the forces of the countries of that region.

Issa confirmed in an exclusive statement to the Reference that these groups, with their advanced capabilities, are now benefiting from technology in guerrilla warfare tactics, such as remote controlling missile launchers and explosive devices, as well as their use in filming live footage of aircraft.

He added that it is obvious that these advanced tools have a great impact on the spread and expansion of these groups, especially in the field of propaganda and ideological marketing for them. Propaganda was divided into international types that target the international community and local types that address the interior with very high technology that contributes to finding human and material resources that increase the capabilities of these groups.

Issa concluded by saying that these advanced technological tools will enable terrorist groups to penetrate security services, eavesdrop, monitor, manufacture high-tech explosives and detonate them remotely, and the ISIS branch in the Lake Chad region has come a long way in this regard, which is proven by the high technology it uses in its media materials.