The United States’ top general for Africa has warned of “violent extremism” and the threat of Russian mercenaries in the Sahel region, speaking as war games wrapped up in Morocco.
“We are seeing the rise of violent extremism in Western Africa, predominantly in the Sahel region,” said General Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).
The Sahel region is a vast territory stretching across the south of Africa’s Sahara Desert, incorporating countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
“We are seeing the arrival of malign actors, and specifically I am thinking of Russian mercenaries from Wagner,” Townsend told AFP in the North African nation on Thursday, at the conclusion of a four-week long “African Lion” international military exercise.
“This training is not specifically oriented on those problems, but it will help all of our armed forces if we are called to combat this kind of problem in the future,” Townsend said.
Islamic State-linked jihadists, whose power was once thought to be waning in the Sahel, have recently expanded their reach and marking their presence with an unprecedented series of civilian massacres.
Mali has been especially hard hit, a former French colony where the strategic landscape has changed dramatically following two coups in August 2020 and May 2021.
Bamako developed closer ties with Moscow, bringing in military personnel that France says are mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group.
- Air, sea and land assault practice –
AFRICOM, which is based in the German city of Stuttgart, is responsible for US military operations across Africa.
More than 7,500 personnel from a dozen countries took part in the “African Lion” exercises, running from June 6 to 30, with operations in Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia.
As well as US troops and officers from the host nations, soldiers from Brazil, Britain, Chad, France, Italy and the Netherlands took part.
The Moroccan leg of the games were attended by military observers from NATO, the African Union and nearly 30 “partner countries”, including for the first time Israel.