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West African Presidents Meet To Fight Rising Terrorism In Sahel

September 13, 2019

Most of the heads of ECOWAS, a grouping of 15 countries on West
Africa's coast and hinterland, are expected to attend the special
one-day meeting, which will also be attended by Chad, Cameroon, and
Mauritania.

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West African leaders meet in the capital of Burkina Faso on Saturday
for a summit expected to lead to an overhaul of the flailing attempt
to roll back jihadism in the Sahel region, Agence France Presse
reports.

Most of the heads of ECOWAS, a grouping of 15 countries on West
Africa's coast and hinterland, are expected to attend the special
one-day meeting, which will also be attended by Chad, Cameroon, and
Mauritania.

Topping their agenda: the record of the so-called G5 Sahel -- a
five-nation effort intended to combat terrorism in the fragile region
that lies between the Sahara and Atlantic.

Backed by former colonial power France, the G5 Sahel was created to
great fanfare in 2014.

The centerpiece of its strategy has been an initiative, launched in
July 2017, to pool 5,000 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali,
Mauritania and Niger to wrench back control from ruthless jihadist
groups.

But, hamstrung by insufficient funds, training, and equipment, the
force has only now reached a complement of 4,000 troops, and for many
analysts seems to be losing the battle.

The nimble rebels have spread from Mali to Burkina Faso and Niger, as
well as Chad.

Their hit-and-run raids are inflicting a mounting human, economic and
political toll, sparking fears that the coastal countries to the south
are next in line.

Yet another example of the difficulties the region faces came on
Thursday, when two soldiers were killed in two simultaneous attacks in
Burkina Faso's north, security sources told AFP. It was just the
latest in a series of deadly attacks on security forces in the
landlocked West African nation.

Lassina Diarra, a regional political analyst, said scathingly the
Ouagadougou summit should "mark the burial" of the G5 Sahel.

"The ECOWAS countries have realized that they have to act... that they
are threatened," Diarra said.

Mahamadou Savadogo, an academic at the CERRAD research unit into
democracy and development at Senegal's Gaston Berger University, said
the G5 Sahel "is almost on its knees. It started off the wrong way."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also has a grim view of the situation.

"I totally believe we are not winning the war against terrorism in the
Sahel and that the operation should be strengthened," he said last
week.

The scale of the challenge facing the G5 Sahel force is huge.

According to the US thinktank the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), the number of radical Islamist-linked
attacks in the Sahel has doubled each year since 2016.

Last year, the tally was 465 -- more than one a day.

"Despite significant international engagement and investment, violent
extremism is increasing," it said.

The British humanitarian charity Oxfam says that 13 million people in
the region currently need help -- water, health, shelter, sanitation
and education are needed in addition to food aid.

- 'International coalition' -

Against this grim background, Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, at a
summit of the African Union in July, called for the creation of an
"international coalition" modelled on the lines of the loose alliance
that fought the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The idea of a wider international pitch also appeals to Ivory Coast,
which in 2016 suffered a terror attack that claimed 19 lives.

Its northern border has been declared by France's foreign ministry to
be an "orange" security risk -- French nationals are advised not to go
there unless necessary.

"MINUSMA (the UN mission in Mali) and the G5 Sahel are not enough. We
have to find wider and more effective means of coordination," Ivorian
President Alassane Ouattara said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has lobbied relentlessly for
donations for the G5 Sahel force, has also signalled a subtle shift in
tone.

Flanked by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G7 summit in
Biarritz last month, he said it was time "for change, in methods and
scale."

- Coastal concern -

Savadogo said West Africa's coastal countries "have taken over the
problem. The structure (of the force) will be modified, although the
outside may be kept."

A French security official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
reacted guardedly to the potential outcome of the Ouagadougou summit.

"Another summit, another meeting, another meeting which ends in a call
for more cooperation... Perhaps. But at least you can see a movement
for change."

Beyond the military realm, there is a widening acknowledgment among
analysts, politicians and army officers themselves that security is
only one part of a much broader strategy to stabilize the Sahel.

ECOWAS -- the Economic Community of West African States -- brings
together 15 countries whose economies range from regional heavyweights
Nigeria and Ivory Coast to the impoverished Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Landlocked Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are non-coastal states.

"There are many advantages in seeing the coastal countries taking over
the problem. Their economies are wealthier and they have a better
chance of luring international donors" for security and development,
said Savadogo.
 

 
Topics
Terrorism