The terror group’s growing footprint is posing an outsize risk to national development in Africa
Militant Islamist fighters hold the flag of Islamic State in northern Raqqa province, Syria. Picture: REUTERSby Islamic State fighters in northeast Syria in late January has prompted major media outlets such as CNN, Theand others to ask whether the terror group is undergoing a resurgence. But it’s misleading to imply it was ever even defeated.
Jihadists operating in the Sahel under the banner of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara have been launching lethal raids on a daily basis for years now. Many of the attacks are concentrated in the lawless “tri-border area” where the porous boundaries between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso converge. Since 2018, Islamist fighters — which also include groups linked with Al-Qaeda — have, state officials or their relatives, and murdered thousands of others.
These cultivated safe havens then become ideal locations from which terrorists can spread propaganda and replenish their ranks by appealing to disaffected youth. They also serve as staging grounds for unrelenting attacks against government sites, security checkpoints and high-traffic areas such as crowded markets or upmarket upscaleurban districts.