The Sahel region is a transitional zone in Africa between the Sahara and the Sudanian savannah located to the south. This article goes to detail on violence, Instability control measures in Sahel region.
The Sahel part of Africa includes northern Senegal, central Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria, northern Nigeria, Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, the northern part of South Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. The region has a flat topography(200-400m).
Reasons For Violence In The Sahel Region, The Resultant Effects And The Groups Involved In Violence Around The Region
Various groups are involved in the chaotic state of the Sahel region. One of them is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) popularly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Isis bases are set in Niger whereby they create sophisticated unique ways of attacking within the country and beyond.
Buko Haram is another terrorist group that mainly resides and attacks the countries of Niger, Chad, and Nigeria. The Ansar ul Islam is mostly active in the areas of Mali and Burkina Faso.
Osama Bin Laden who formed the Al-Qaeda in 1988 is now the most notorious group when it comes to terrorist attacks.
Various reasons favor the violence that happens in the region. The poverty rates within these countries affected, create a perfect opportunity for these terrorist groups to recruit members.
Ethnic Division
Ethnic divisions also promote the recruitment of the people and this may even lead to local wars within a country.
Marie Roger Biloa says that the main reason as to why the violence has become hard to be contained is due to ownership disputes. These disputes occur when the international troops want to take control of the problem disregarding the African context. Not having confidence in the African armies of respective countries is also a problem.
Stig Jarle Hansen, a Professor in International Relations, says that local negligence of work-related issues is the main cause of these conflicts arising.
For example, in Burkina Faso, the main reason for tensions is due to the ethnic groups’ disputes. The local peace in these countries is not given the much attention. This is where the African countries are going wrong.
Besides, Marie says that the main crisis that happened in 2019 and claimed more than 4000 lives was due to an external factor. The groups had access to weapons that highly supported them during their operation.
African Union Strategical Plans Towards The Sahel Region Crisis
Recently, the AU decided to deploy 3000 troops to the region to correct the immensely deteriorated security state. The French power also comes in aid in combating the insecurity issues. It announced that it was increasing its military availability in the Sahel region by sending additional troops adding to the existing 4500.
The reason for adding more troops is because they want to create great pressure against the ISIL. Concerning the likelihood of the deployment of troops, it is quite not worked out completely yet.
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