Negotiating out of Counterterrorism in the Sahel

Perhaps in an effort to signal an opening for negotiations, Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel declared that French soil is not part of the conflict.
For the first time, an al-Qaeda affiliate publicly declared that the ongoing war with France does not include French soil.
The most active branches of al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (IS) are currently in sub-Saharan Africa.







