The Islamic State claims in the latest edition of its weekly Al-Naba newsletter that Al Qaeda started a “war” against the so-called caliphate’s men in West Africa. Independent reporting confirms that the two sides have clashed in recent weeks.
On April 2, as Nigeria’s megacity Lagos and its capital Abuja locked down to control the spread of the coronavirus, the country’s military announced a massive operation — joining forces with neighboring Chad and Niger — against the terrorist group Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State’s West Africa Province. This spring offensive was in response to a seven-hour attack by Boko Haram fighters that killed 98 Chadian soldiers in late March. Since then, the joint Nigeria-Chad-Niger military offensive has killed hundreds of Boko Haram militants.
The Egyptian army and security forces have been under attack this Ramadan, as in previous years.
UN experts say mercenaries from the Vagner group, a Russian private security firm, are supporting Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar in his battle to capture the capital, Tripoli.
Khalifa Haftar, who commands forces besieging Tripoli, has announced he will replace UN-backed mediation in Libya with a new political roadmap and government. His proposal divided supporters; adversaries called it a coup. To stop a power struggle, Haftar’s regional backers should press him to reconsider.
Turkish intervention in Libya’s war stopped the besieged Tripoli government from collapsing. But fighting with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces has since escalated, threatening a protracted conflict. Both Ankara and Haftar’s regional backers should urge their allies toward a return to negotiations and a ceasefire.
A suspected Egyptian-born Islamic State fighter described by police investigators as a “dangerous extremist” and two other people who are being investigated for possible links to religious extremist groups have been arrested in southern Spain, the country’s National Police announced Tuesday.
Continuing their assault across the Sahel, both al Qaeda and the Islamic State have claimed several attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger since the beginning of the month.
Tunisia security forces Saturday slain in restive Kasserine governorate two notorious terrorists whose group is known as an affiliate cell of the Islamic state terror group (ISIS).
In the coming weeks, West Africa’s terrorist groups are set to encroach further into Togo, Benin, and Ghana. This year’s presidential elections and their associated impact in Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Togo may create further tensions for terrorist groups to exploit. As part of the United States’ global retreat, military forces have departed from West Africa, leaving the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), France, and the G-5 Sahel to pick up the slack and attempt to prevent the spread of terrorism further into West Africa. But military force alone is not enough. West Africa must provide a test case for innovative and collective preventive diplomacy, which adapts to the growing risks, builds local resilience, and prevents the next security and humanitarian disaster.