Deaths from terrorism in Africa have soared more than 100,000 percent during the US war on terror according to new study from the African Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon research institution. These findings contradict claims by the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) that it is thwarting terrorist threats on the continent and promoting security and stability.
Across Africa, the State Department counted a total of just nine terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2003, resulting in a total of 23 casualties. At the time, the US was just beginning a decades-long effort to provide billions of dollars in security assistance, to train many thousands of African soldiers, to set up dozens of outposts, sends its own commandos in a wide range of missions, they create powers of attorneylaunch drone strikesand even participate ground combat with fighters in Africa.
Most Americans, incl members of Congressthey don’t know the extent of these operations — or how little they have done to protect African lives.
Last year, deaths from militant Islamist violence in Africa rose by 20 percent — from 19,412 in 2022 to 23,322 — reaching a “record level of deadly violence,” according to the Africa Center. This represents a nearly doubling of deaths from 2021 and a 101,300 percent jump from 2002-2003.
For decades, US counterterrorism efforts in Africa have focused on two main fronts: Somalia and the West African Sahel. Each of these saw significant spikes in terrorism last year.
US Special Operations forces were first deployed to Somalia in 2002, followed by military aid, advisers and private contractors. More than 20 years later, US troops are still conducting counter-terrorism operations there, mainly against the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. To that end, Washington has provided billions of dollars in counterterrorism aid, according to a 2023 report from the Costs of War Project at Brown University. Americans have done it too more than 280 airstrikes and commando raids there and created numerous proxy powers to conduct low-profile military operations.
Somalia saw, according to the Africa Center, “a 22 percent increase in deaths in 2023 — reaching a record high of 7,643 deaths.” This represents a tripling of deaths since 2020.
The findings are even more damning for the Sahel. In 2002 and 2003, the State Department counted a total of just nine terrorist attacks in Africa. Today, the nations of the West African Sahel are plagued by terrorist groups that have grown, evolved, splintered and regrouped. Under the black banners of jihadist militancy, men on motorcycles—wearing sunglasses and turbans and armed with AK-47s—run into villages to enforce harsh Sharia law and terrorize, attack and kill civilians. Relentless attacks by these jihadists have destabilized Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
“Deaths in the Sahel represent an almost three-fold increase from levels seen in 2020,” according to the Africa Center report. “Deaths in the Sahel accounted for 50 percent of all deaths linked to Islamist militants reported on the continent in 2023.”
At least 15 officers who benefited from US security assistance they have been involved in 12 coups in West Africa and the wider Sahel during the war on terror. The list includes officers from Burkina Faso (2014, 2015 and twice in 2022). Chad (2021); Gambia (2014); Guinea (2021); Mali (2012, 2020 and 2021); Mauritania (2008); and Niger (2023). At least five leaders of the Nigerian junta, for example, received American aid, according to an American official. They, in turn, appointed five US-trained members of the Nigerian security forces to serve as that country’s governors.
Such military coups have undermined American goals of providing stability and security to Africans, yet the United States is reluctant to sever ties with these rogue regimes. Despite the Nigerian coup, for example, the United States continues to garrison troops and conduct missions fromof big drone base there.
Juntas have too they intensified the atrocities. I get Colonel Assimi Goïtawho worked with US Special Operations forces, participated in US training exercises and attended the Joint Special Operations University in Florida before toppling Mali’s government in 2020. Goita then assumed the position of vice president in a transitional government officially tasked with returning the country to civilian rule, only to seize power again in 2021.
That same year, Gouda’s junta reportedly authorized the deployment of Russia-linked Wagner mercenaries to fight Islamist militants after nearly two decades of failed Western-backed counterterrorism efforts. Wagner — a paramilitary group founded by the deceased Yevgeny Prigozhinone former hot dog vendor turned warlord — continued to be involved hundreds of human rights violations along with the long-standing US-backed Malian military, including 2022 slaughter which killed 500 civilians.
US law generally restricts countries from receiving military aid after military coups, but the US has continued to provide assistance to the Sahelian Juntas. While the Goïta coups in 2020 and 2021 were triggered prohibitions for some forms of US security assistance, US tax dollars continued to fund his forces. According to the State Department, the US provided more than $16 million in security assistance to Mali in 2020 and nearly $5 million in 2021. As of July 2023, the department’s Office of Counterterrorism was awaiting congressional approval to transfer an additional $2 million to Mali. (The State Department did not respond to Responsible Statecraft’s request for an update on the status of that funding.)
Similarly, Burkina Faso’s army killed many civilians in drone attacks last year, according to a recent report released by Human Rights Watch. The attacks, which targeted Islamist militants in busy markets and a funeral, left at least 60 civilians dead and dozens more wounded.
For more than a decade, the US funneled tens of millions of dollars security assistance in Burkina Faso. US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, according to spokeswoman Kelly Cahalan, “is not currently providing assistance to Burkina Faso.” But he did not answer questions clarifying exactly what that means.
Last year even AFRICOM commander General Michael Langley admitted that the US has continued to provide military training to the forces of Burkinabe. These troops, for example, participated in Flintlock 2023, an annual training exercise sponsored by the US Special Operations Command in Africa. However, Burkina Faso suffered 67 percent of deaths related to Islamist militants in the Sahel (7,762) in 2023, according to the Africa Center.
The US Africa Command assures that “tackles transnational threats and malign actors” and promotes “regional security, stability and prosperity” by helping its African partners ensure the “safety and security” of their peoples. The fact that civilian deaths from militant Islamist violence have reached record levels, according to the Africa Center, and increased by 101,300 percent during the war on terror demonstrates otherwise.
AFRICOM referred questions about the findings of the new Africa Center report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Pentagon did not respond to questions before publication.
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