Africa

• The United States provided training to several West African military officers who later went on to be involved in at least nine coup attempts in five countries since 2008.
• Russia may integrate this narrative into overall efforts to undermine the U.S. campaign to convince African governments not to engage further with the Kremlin-linked private military company known as the Wagner Group.
• Like many global powers, the United States has a history of involvement in engaging in the affairs of governments across the African continent, which can serve to further discredit future U.S. involvement.
• Russian influence is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa while simultaneously, European countries are drawing down forces from peacekeeping and counterterrorism operations in Mali.

According to Zagazola Makama, a publication focused on the Lake Chad region, a policeman was killed during the attack.

The Nigeria Police Force personnel in Borno State have reportedly repelled an attack by some suspected members of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) in North Eastern Magumeri, Borno State.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country of extraordinary opportunities which, when considered more thoroughly, leave no one indifferent. It is located in West Africa, between the Sahel in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean in the south. It borders Niger to the north, Chad to the northeast, Cameroon to the east and Benin to the west. About 220 million inhabitants live on the surface of a large 923,769 square kilometers. Nigeria particularly impresses with its demographic and economic potential.

In whatever form it manifests, whether it’s distaste for foreigners, refugees and asylum seekers, a nationalistic economic policy or flag-waving patriotism, tribal nationalism is a cancer upon the world. Violent, ugly, and often deadly, it creates and strengthens divisions, often resulting in war, one after another after another throughout history.

Civilian Targeting Trends in the Central African Republic and Mali

Introduction

On 30 March 2022, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament launched an inquiry into states’ use of private military contractors (PMC), drawing particular attention to the prominent Russian PMC known as the Wagner Group (UK Parliament, 30 March 2022). The decision to launch the inquiry came as Wagner Group forces deployed to Ukraine, and a series of reports emerged implicating Wagner mercenaries in human rights violations in Mali.

The war in Ukraine has not stopped Russia’s activities in Africa. Over the past year, the Wagner Group, in particular, has taken advantage of France’s and other Western countries’ worsening relations with Sahelian states.

Mercenaries have been a fixture in Africa since the second half of the 20th century. They have been used to protect incumbent leaders or install new ones in conflict zones.

Their offering – guns for hire – has remained essentially the same for decades. However, they’ve recently undergone an evolution that forces countries to look more closely at their roles – which range from technical advisers to frontline combatants.

Selon des éléments fiables obtenus auprès de sources sécuritaires sur le terrain, l’organisation Al Qaïda au Maghreb Islamique(AQMI) opérant dans le corridor sahélien, aurait selon ces sources « structuré une filière d’immigration clandestine très élaborée », qui lui permettrait à la fois de se financer et d’envoyer des agents dormants potentiels en Europe. La diversification des sources de financement d’AQMI serait au cœur des préoccupations des acteurs impliquées dans la sécurisation du Sahel, dont les Etats-Unis, qui ont déjà lancé une offensive massive pour réduire le narcotrafic, considéré comme une source potentielle de financement extrêmement inquiétante. A l’image des groupes mafieux, AQMI est en effet à la recherche du meilleur financement avec un ratio coût/opportunité le plus intéressant, ce qui aurait poussé l’organisation terroriste à lentement glisser du narcotrafic vers l’immigration clandestine.

La triste fin de l’humanitaire français Michel Germaneau, assassiné par des terroristes d’al-Qaida au Maghreb islamique (AQMI), et le raid franco-mauritanien contre un camp de ce réseau dans une vaine tentative pour le libérer, ont confirmé la gravité des menaces qui pèsent sur la sécurité dans la région. Outre le fait que la zone sahélo-saharienne soit devenue un véritable sanctuaire pour les groupes terroristes, cet épisode a aussi révélé que la coopération régionale dans la lutte antiterroriste, instituée par les accords de sécurité parrainés par Alger en avril dernier, n’était qu’une coquille vide. Le repli de l’AQMI dans les zones désertiques du Sahara et du Sahel après avoir sévi pendant plusieurs années en Algérie, n’a fait que donner un nouveau souffle au groupe salafiste.