After Al-Sisi’s call, African Union faces terrorism in Sahel

Ahmed Adel

After the escalation of terrorist threats in the Sahel region and the increase in the number of jihadists in the region, the African Union and its European partners paid great attention to the West African region, which prompted the Union to approve it, Thursday, February 27, 2020, by deploying 3 thousand soldiers to prevent the deterioration of the security situation.

The move is a true translation of the call by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to create an African military force to combat terrorism in the region.

Translation of Al-Sisi’s move

The announcement of the African Union decision came after the Egyptian President, in February 2020, made a speech before the African Summit in Addis Ababa, which was held under the slogan of “silencing the guns”, creating conditions conducive to the development of Africa”, to create a force to confront and combat terrorism on the continent.

In February 2019, Sisi announced, after assuming the presidency of the African Union, the “silencing weapons” or “silencing guns” initiative, calling for the settlement of armed conflicts within the continent, ridding Africa of internal conflicts, and creating conditions for development.

American withdrawal

In December 2019, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) decided to reduce the military presence in West Africa, while the region is witnessing an increase in the activity of terrorist groups, led by ISIS led by Boko Haram, and a number of groups loyal to al-Qaeda.

French reinforcement

In February 2020, France announced the enhancement of military cooperation with the five Sahel states, by launching a “coalition for the Sahel”, which is a large-scale international coalition to fight terrorism in the Sahel and desert. Paris then increased the number of its forces present in the Barkhan operation from 4,500 to 5,100 soldiers.

Terrorist organizations

The steps taken by regional and international powers and the African Union to confront jihadist elements in the West African region are offset by a torrent of endless escalation of attacks by al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in the region, who are working together in the current period, thanks to tribal ties and practical concerns, despite the ideological and ideological difference between the two organizations.

However, the alliance between them comes within the framework of the interest, which threatens a real crisis affecting the regional security of West Africa.

This cooperation, highlighted by Muhammad Saleh Anadif, the commander of the United Nations Mission in Mali, in his statements in July 2019, highlighted that there is clear and irrefutable evidence on the alliance of both al Qaeda and ISIS in the current period at the operational and intelligence levels.

The American Washington Post newspaper also confirmed, in a report in February 2019, that despite the extreme hostility between al Qaeda and ISIS in both Syria and Yemen, the alliance between them in West Africa has become clear, due to tribal ties and practical interests, through the terrorists who are recruited from the two armed organizations.

The repercussions of the coalition in the face of the forces

In a special statement to the Reference, Nasser Mamoun Issa, a researcher on African affairs, believes that it is the repercussions of common interests between both al Qaeda and ISIS in the West African region that prompted the African Union to enhance military cooperation in the region.

Nasser attributed the causes of that alliance to two reasons, the first of which is the presence of the ruling regimes, which the radical groups see as unjust and oppressive, and do not apply the law of God, and the second is the deployment of regional forces, whether American or French, in that region.