Anlaysis | South24 

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A panel of experts concerning terrorism and geopolitical issues notified the United Nations (UN) about their concerns for Africa. In the first six months of this year, al-Qaida, ISIS (Islamic State), and other [...] terrorist forces have made further inroads on this continent.

The experts told the UN that al-Qaida is notably gaining in strength in Somalia and throughout the Sahel region. ISIS, on the other hand, is gaining momentum in various parts of East and West Africa. Islamist terrorism is also growing in potency in Mozambique and further afield.

Many overlapping and independent terrorist themes exist so the point was crudely put. Boko Haram, for example, is fracturing because of ISIS involvement in the quagmire of Nigeria. Therefore, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel region, West Africa, and all the way to Mozambique, it is abundantly clear that [...] terrorist forces are gaining momentum.

Voice of America reports, “The experts said it’s “concerning” that these terrorist affiliates are spreading their influence and activities including across borders from Mali into Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger and Senegal as well as incursions from Nigeria into Cameroon, Chad and Niger in West Africa. In the east, the affiliates’ activities have spread from Somalia into Kenya and from Mozambique into Tanzania, they said.”

However, the experts should also focus on the legacy of former leader Barack Obama of the United States and other nations who altered the dynamics in Libya. This concerns the support of various militias – including forces linked to [...] terrorism by stealth – by America, Canada, France, Qatar, [...] the United Kingdom, and others. The main bombing of Libya to oust Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was carried out by America, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom – while Qatar also played a covert role on the ground.

The debacle did witness the overthrow of Gaddafi by Obama and other allies. Indeed, Gaddafi was killed in a brutal fashion. However, democracy and a stable nation didn’t materialize. Instead, Arabs began enslaving black Africans and terrorism would be boosted dramatically because you now had a failed state. At the same time, mass immigration engulfed Europe from yet another failed intervention and regional nations would witness the flow of military arms to terrorist networks.

Last year, the Boston Globe reported, “That attack, in which the United States played a key role, may now be ranked among the most recklessly self-defeating military interventions of the 21st century. It was sold as “humanitarian intervention,” but wound up producing a human rights disaster. It turned Libya, once one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa, into a failed state and breeding ground for terror. In nearby countries, it has nourished a generation of murderous militias. The coup in Mali shows that after-effects of the Libya attack are still reverberating.”

The Guardian in 2014 said, “Blowback from the Libyan war has spread across Africa, destabilizing the Sahel region and beyond. After Gaddafi’s fall, Tuareg people who had fought for him went home to Mali, bringing Libyan arms caches with them. Within months, that had tipped northern Mali into full-scale armed rebellion and takeover by Islamist fighters.”

Since the Libya debacle, the Sahel and parts of West Africa have witnessed growing Islamist insurgencies and terrorist factions. Hence, while experts are warning about the growing Islamist terrorist menace in Africa in 2021, they should equally focus on the folly of past interventions where [...] terrorists have entered vacuums.

The United Nations reported in 2012 “…that governments in the Sahel were struggling to address a spike in weapons proliferation, organized crime, and terrorism.”

The [...] terrorist vacuums of Obama’s policies – along with allies who joined the debacles in Libya and Syria – continue to reverberate today despite the longevity of time. In the Sahel region, the crisis is out of control in 2021. Therefore, the UN is concerned by the continuing spread of [...] terrorist networks that blight vast swathes of Africa. 

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Source: Murad Makhmudov and Lee jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times)