UNITED NATIONS — Terrorism and organized crime by violent extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State pose a “pervasive threat” in Africa’s troubled Sahel region and is expanding into coastal West Africa, the top UN envoy for the region warned Friday.
Leonardo Simão, the UN Special Representative for the Sahel and West Africa, said the focus on counter-terrorism has had limited effect in stopping the widespread illicit trade in the Sahel and that more policing is needed to achieve this.
“It involves drugs, weapons, people, raw materials and even food,” Simão said after a briefing to the UN Security Council.
Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in terrorist attacks in the first half of 2024 alone, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ new report on the Sahel and West Africa.
The vast majority of deaths occurred in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, where the ruling military juntas launched a joint security force to combat terrorism, although the force has not yet begun operations. The three countries are increasingly severing ties with the US military And alliance with Russia about the security challenges.
Last week the three juntas doubled their resolve to leave the Economic Community of West African States, the nearly 50-year-old regional bloc known as ECOWAS, after establishing their own security partnership, Alliance of Sahel Statesin september.
Simão did not comment on the countries’ international alliances, but said their withdrawal from ECOWAS “will be detrimental to both parties.” He praised ECOWAS for taking a “strong approach” in dealing with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and urged the countries to maintain regional unity.
He called for continued UN support for the Accra Initiative, a military platform involving Burkina Faso and nearby coastal countries to contain the spread of extremism in the Sahel. He also said the Security Council should pursue funding for regionally led police operations.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed her support for ECOWAS and UN efforts in West Africa and the Sahel, saying the Security Council “must also step forward.”
Thomas-Greenfield urged more funding and the appointment of a UN coordinator in the region, saying a UN presence is critical to supporting the UN’s development efforts “and ensuring the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance.”
Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered that international security efforts amount to an “attempt to impose new colonial models” on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. She accused Western donors of restricting aid for “political reasons.”
“Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are waging an uncompromising and coordinated fight against terrorist groups and are achieving success and stabilizing their territories,” Evstigneeva said.
The deadliest terrorist attacks in the region this year have occurred in Burkina Faso, where the militant jihadist groups Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which has ties to al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State claim “vast swaths” of territory, Guterres said in the report. In February alone, major terrorist attacks killed 301 people, including a single attack that claimed 170 lives.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, 361 people were killed as a result of conflict in Niger in the first three months of 2024, a significant increase from the 250 deaths in the same period last year.
Guterres encouraged the “accelerated implementation” of remaining security arrangements, including recent plans for a counter-terrorism centre in Nigeria and the deployment of an ECOWAS standby force to eradicate terrorism.
The military juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have ended long-standing military partnerships with foreign countries in recent years.
In 2022, France withdrew its troops from Mali about tensions with the junta, followed by a military withdrawal from Niger at the request of the government.
The UN ended his 10-year peace mission in Mali in December 2023 at the urging of the junta. It was the deadliest UN peacekeeping mission, with more than 300 deaths.
The US military is expected to complete its withdrawal from Niger by September 15, also at the junta’s request.
Guterres said regional insecurity “continues to have a negative impact on the humanitarian and human rights situation.”
The report said 25.8 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria will need humanitarian assistance this year. Those four countries had more than 6.2 million internally displaced people and 630,000 refugees in April. In addition, 32.9 million people were food insecure.
Guterres said humanitarian organizations lack sufficient funding and have received only 13% of the $3.2 billion needed for 2024. “Without additional funding, millions of vulnerable people will be left without essential support,” he said in the report.