How Islamic State, Al-Qaeda Are Taking Over West Africa - US

The United States (US) Africa Command has warned that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorist groups were gradually taking over the West African region following their displacement from Syria and Iraq.

Commander of the US Special Operations Command, Africa, Maj. Gen. Davin Anderson, noted that the extremist groups have begun deploying strategies to re-establish themselves in the region and silently expand further in the continent.

The Commander, at a virtual media briefing with journalists on Tuesday, disclosed that al-Qaeda has expanded in Mali, and had moved into northern Burkina Faso, where they attacked infrastructure, took out local governance and security forces, and are now controlling the local economy and exerting control over the population.

According to him, “We are seeing them continue to move further south in Burkina Faso towards those littoral nations in the Gulf of Guinea, and also further west towards Senegal and West Africa. So that’s a concern to us as we watch them continue to move throughout the region.”

Anderson observed that some aggrieved local terrorist groups were being galvanized into a larger ideology and movement, stressing that al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, was already instigating instability in Somalia in order to destabilize the horn of Africa.

He further stated that the extremist group is exploiting the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel to gain deeper roots in the region and in West Africa with Islamic State, West Africa, and Grand Sahara.

The groups, according to him, have established affiliates or leverage local grievances and consolidate this into a larger movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, Mozambique, as well as in Somalia.

The Commander said, “They are looking to Africa to try to find a means to re-establish themselves. And we can’t forget that al-Qaeda has African roots and has a lot of African connection as well.

“That’s very concerning to us because it’s a deliberate strategy, and part of that strategy is to be quiet about how they act, how they expand. They’re not looking to advertise a lot of what they’re doing.”

He pointed out that Africa needs to be conscious of the terrorists’ plot and understand how to counter it.