IS making inroads in West Africa

Ahmed Adel

In late April this year, the presumed caliph of the Islamic State (IS) group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video where he called for the establishment of what is called the ‘Central African Province.

The video was Baghdadi’s first appearance after five years of absence. Soon after the video was aired, al-Morabitoun group, which was commanded by Algerian terrorist Abou Walid al-Sahraoui, declared allegiance to IS and its caliph.

In June 2019, intelligence reports revealed that Baghdadi had selected Sahraoui to be the commander of the new branch of IS in Africa, specifically in Burkina Faso, South Africa, Congo and Mozambique. Sahraoui also commanded terrorist groups in Niger and Mali.

IS launched a series of terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso and Congo in the past months. In April 2019, the terrorist group carried out its first attack in Congo, leaving two army troops and a civilian dead. The group also staged an attack on the border with Uganda, leaving eight army troops dead. IS also claimed responsibility for an attack in Mozambique. The attack left seven people, including a policeman, dead.

According to intelligence reports, IS tries to gain a foothold in the Ivory Coast and Benin. Alp-Morabitoun has been trying to infiltrate the area around the Gulf of Guinea.

The president of the Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara called in June this year for expanding intelligence and security cooperation in the Sahel and Sahara region, referring to threats to the security of the region.

Some terrorist groups, meanwhile cross from Burkina Faso into Togo and Benin and impose a sharia-based lifestyle on residents in the small villages they go to, according to France Press.

Security agencies have already widened the scope of their work in the region in order to prevent the infiltration of terrorist groups. This is especially so in Ghana, Benin and Togo. In November 2018, intelligence agencies carried out significant operations in the area that led to the arrest of 200 suspected jihadists.

West Africa expansion

African affairs specialist Nehal Ahmed said the defeat of the Islamic State group in both Iraq and Syria has encouraged the terrorist group to seek new strongholds in West Africa, especially in Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Congo, the Central African Republic and Nigeria.

“This expansion was most noticeable in 2018,” Ahmed told The Reference. “The terrorist organization found a lot of supporters in the new ground, especially after the broadcast of Baghdadi’s new video in April 2019.”