Terrorist groups are spreading rapidly throughout Africa and are likely to target Western nations in the near future, according to one member of Congress.
The continued influence of the groups is also inadvertently ceding the region to China and Russia, Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) said during a Dec. 12 talk at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank.
“We need to be very aware of the threat,” Mr. Panetta said.
“Not only is the violence going to extend to the littoral states ... there clearly is a growing threat of the [Violent Extremist Organizations] moving from the Middle East into Africa and using that as a fertile ground upon which they could launch another attack against the West.”
Mr. Panetta described a recent trip to Africa with congressional colleagues as “eye-opening.”
He said that U.S. engagement in Africa, particularly throughout the Sahel region, is being overlooked as the nation contends with funding wars in Gaza and Ukraine and with the looming threat of a Chinese communist invasion of Taiwan.
Subsequently, he said, the United States may be failing to deter malign actors from carrying out terror attacks against the nation and its allies.
Coups Spread as Communities Fear Terrorism
Mr. Panetta’s journey to Africa follows a half-dozen coups that have rocked the Sahel and surrounding region in two years.In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the army elements that seized power claimed that the coups would better allow them to fight against Islamic terrorists.
Katherine Zimmerman, a fellow at AEI, said that the situation was highly “dynamic” and that the coups have often occurred as a response to the threat of terror groups that have spread through the Sahel following wars in the Middle East and northern Africa over the past two decades.
Ms. Zimmerman said that although many don’t want to be ruled by the fiat of a military junta, they were willing to take some semblance of stability and protection from terrorists wherever they come from.
“Most people on the ground, they don’t want to have Al-Qaeda or Islamic State or other actors dominating their communities,” Ms. Zimmerman said. “They just see no choice to ensure their futures.”
China, Russia Expand Amid Unrest
Mr. Panetta said that many post-coup nations in Africa have endeavored to deepen ties with China and Russia, while turning away from the United States and Europe because of that lack of engagement.“They want American engagement, but, unfortunately, there wasn’t that economic engagement,” Mr. Panetta said. “So who did they go to? They went to the Chinese.”
Likewise, Niger’s military junta has revoked security agreements with European partners and instead embraced a new security relationship with Russia. That’s a problem not only for influence, but also for international security, as Niger is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium, vital for the production of nuclear power and weapons of mass destruction.
The organization has committed “campaigns of mass killing, torture, and rape” and is linked to military coups in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, and Mali, according to the report.
It has also seized control of industrial-level gold and diamond mining operations, granting Russia a sanctions-proof means of building wealth.
The report reads, “In CAR, Wagner has perfected a blueprint for state capture, supporting a criminalized state hijacked by the Central African president and his inner circle, amassing military power, securing access to and plundering precious minerals, and subduing the population with terror.”
