Africa

Recalibrating Coastal West Africa’s Response to Violent Extremism

Coastal West African countries can strengthen resiliency to the threat of violent extremism by enhancing a multilayered response addressing local, national, and regional priorities.

Highlights

  • Extremist violence in the Sahel is spilling over into coastal West African countries.
  • Governments in coastal West African countries play the leading role in responding to this threat by proactively strengthening ties with local communities in vulnerable regions.
  • Regional security cooperation can bolster national defenses through intelligence sharing, coordinating border patrols, and training focused on community protection.
  • Forging a multitiered strategy—linking support to communities with regional and international bodies—would help contextualize local responses while sustaining regional cooperation to address the complex threat posed by violent extremist groups.

Africa’s Constantly Evolving Militant Islamist Threat

Fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in Africa have surged by nearly 60 percent since 2021, though this is marked by widely varying regional threat trajectories, actors, and objectives.

Highlights

The threat from militant Islamist groups in Africa over the past decade has steadily grown—with almost three times the number of annual violent events (roughly 6,700) as in 2014. The reported 21,780 annual fatalities represent a 56 percent increase just from 2021.

Sahel: The New Front In The Ukraine-Russia War – Analysis

On 24 February 2022, when Russia began its airstrike in the Donbas region of Ukraine, no one imagined it to become a full-blown war, nor that it would continue for so long. Yet, more than two years later, the metastasising war goes on. Despite the distance, the repercussions of the war have been deeply felt across Africa, threatening its food and energy security. In July 2023, a seven-member African peace delegationvisited both Russia and Ukraine to persuade two leaders to end the destructive war. Unfortunately, like many other peace initiative proposals by other countries, this effort also faltered as none of the leaders agreed to negotiate.

Mali cuts ties with Ukraine, claiming Kyiv’s involvement in rebel attacks

Mali has announced that it has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of involvement in attacks on Malian soldiers in the West African country in late July.

The Ukrainian government said no evidence was provided to support the allegation.

But the announcement came late Sunday after Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the GUR, commented on fierce battles in northern Mali between Tuareg rebels and Malian and Russian paramilitary troops on Ukrainian government-backed TV.

Mali cuts diplomatic ties with Ukraine over massacre of Wagner mercenaries claim

Mali has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine after Kyiv suggested a tip off from its intelligence services had allowed rebels to massacre a force of government troops and Russian mercenaries.

Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels claim they killed at least 84 mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group along with 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting late last month.

Le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies confirme le grand succès de la Russie en Afrique

Le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies (CSNU) a adopté une résolution levant l’embargo sur les armes à l’encontre du gouvernement de la République centrafricaine (RCA). Le document a été soumis au Conseil de sécurité par la France (Paris représente traditionnellement toutes les résolutions au Conseil de sécurité concernant ses anciennes colonies) et a été adopté à l’unanimité.

Did Westerners, Ukrainians, And Islamists Help Tuareg Rebels Ambush Wagner In Mali?

The Tuareg Conflict is on pace to become another proxy war between Russia and the West.

Speculation is swirling in the days after Tuareg rebels ambushed Wagner in Mali, which readers can learn more about here and here, to suggest that they had the support of Westerners, Ukrainians, and Islamists. Former ECOWAS Director of Communication Adama Gaye told Al Jazeera on Sunday that “Tuareg forces could be receiving outside help, including from the French military and regional armed groups with ‘allegiance to al-Qaeda’”, which set the stage for the reports that’ll now follow.