A report by the Washington Post warned that al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists have bypassed their struggle to focus on controlling vast areas in West Africa's sahel region.
The American newspaper quoted US and local officials voicing their concerns about the possibility of a regional threat turning into a global crisis. In specific, groups linked to ISIS and Al Qaeda have used advanced tactics in recent months, and have succeeded in launching attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The "Washington Post" noted that the terrorist organizations extended their control over a number of villages in a surprising manner, according to interviews with more than a dozen senior officials and military leaders from the United States, France and West Africa.
One of the officials told The Washington Post that these groups had not announced that the "caliphate", was taking place in West Africa, for fear of drawing attention to it, in an attempt to have enough time for training, gather more fighters and plan attacks that could ultimately have global targets.
These warnings come at a time when the Pentagon is considering withdrawing its forces from West Africa, Sahel region, with about 1,400 soldiers working in the areas of intelligence support and drone operations deployed, along with other forms of military assistance.
There are also about 4,400 American soldiers in East Africa, where the US military advises African forces fighting the terrorist "Al-Shabab" movement operating in Somalia.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has made it clear that not all American forces will depart from the African continent. But he has left open the question of whether they will continue to provide intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), refueling and armed drone support to the roughly 4,500 French forces that are fighting the ISIS- and al Qaeda-linked extremists on the ground in Operation Barkhane.
It appears that part of any draw-down would be the closure of the recently opened $110 million airbase in Agadez, Niger, from which American units operate.
Earlier, analysts considered that the US decision to withdraw its troops working in Africa would harm its relations with France.
Esper’s reluctance to foreclose any option of withdrawing these support elements led the French minister of the armies, Florence Parly, to remonstrate personally with Esper during their meeting in Washington in late January. As she put it in their joint press conference, “It's a classic case of burden-sharing, where limited U.S. support leverages an immense effort carried out by France and Europe.”
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