African leaders have been meeting in Nigeria's capital to discuss ways to jointly combat attacks by armed groups. The U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism also took part, along with representatives from the U.S., E.U. and Russia. It comes after Niger's government told U.S. troops to leave, accusing them of failing to prevent attacks.

Abuja

African leaders recently convened in the capital of Nigeria to deliberate on collaborative approaches to combat the challenge of armed attacks by various groups across the continent. The conference was notable for the participation of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism as well as delegations from the United States, European Union, and Russia. This assembly was prompted by a decision from the government of Niger, which asked U.S. military personnel to exit the country, attributing to them the failure in halting the onslaught of terror attacks.

The sentiment among the African leaders was one of disappointment with the international community, citing insufficient support in the face of significant losses to terrorism and violence. They highlighted the inefficiency of United Nations missions which, despite substantial funding, yield little success and yet, African states remain perilously under-resourced to fight against the surge of terrorism that has plagued the continent. The African Union outlined the grave situation whereby armed factions including Boko Haram, ISIL, and Al-Qaeda, together with their derivatives, have caused the deaths of tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, placing Africa at the heart of global terrorism and extremism challenges.

The narratives from the summit also touched on the broader implications of external financing in terrorism, the repeated calls for Western troops to exit from military-governed regions like Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali due to perceived inadequacies in protection measures, and the United Nations’ acknowledgment of the unsuccessful strategies to stabilize the Sahel region devised over a decade ago. The acknowledged reason behind the flourishing terrorism includes increasing poverty, inequality, and state neglect, which have altogether enabled armed groups to strengthen their hold by recruiting fighters and capturing territories.

The meeting's objective was to form a unified strategy for attenuating these attacks, emphasizing the necessity of aligning counter-terrorism efforts with Africa's priorities and an African-led needs assessment. Amidst these discussions, recent statistics unveiled by the United Nations illustrated a grim picture of rising violence, reporting a 22% increase in terrorism-related fatalities worldwide in 2023, with the highest figures in seven years. The Sahel countries, particularly Mali and Burkina Faso, accounted for over half of these deaths. However, the absence of these two countries from the meeting, due to EU sanctions following military coups, casts uncertainty on the effectiveness of any resolutions from this congregation on those nations already isolated in their battle against armed groups.



African leaders discuss combating armed groups

African leaders say they feel let down by the international community because when their countries suffer losses they receive little or no help. We cannot understand that UN missions continue to absorb every year billions of dollars producing very modest results and that the African states are not granted a minimum of resources to counter the tragic spread of terrorism. This the African Union says has allowed armed groups to establish themselves on the continent making it what one delegate says is the epicenter of global terrorism and violent extremism. Boko Haram, ISIL, Al-Qaeda and their offshoots have killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. The international community has both the moral and legal obligation to help in this cause because it is outside money, not African money that fuels the illegal operations. Military governments in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have ordered Western troops to leave the countries saying they haven't done enough to protect them against attacks. The UN admits the Security Council strategy to secure the Sahel region 11 years ago has failed. Today sadly we see an absence of state in areas where terrorism flourishes. The well-articulated efforts of the strategy have not come at the scale or at the pace that was sought. But it says rising poverty, inequality and neglect have enabled armed groups to recruit fighters and seize control in many regions. Organizers aim to adopt a common approach to curbing attacks. We must ensure our strategies are shaped by an African-owned needs assessment aligning our counter-terrorism efforts with the continent's priorities. Recent statistics show violence by armed groups in Africa is escalating. The United Nations says 8,000 terrorism related deaths were recorded globally in 2023, a 22% jump over the previous year's records and the most documented in seven years. Countries of the Sahel, especially Mali and Burkina Faso, account for more than half of that number. But the two countries didn't attend the appointment meeting. They are under EU sanctions imposed after military coups in 2021 and 2022. It's not clear how in their absence resolutions meant that this high-level meeting could impact these countries, already going it alone in the war against armed groups.

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