The United States has warned that parts of Africa are witnessing a renewed extremist threat as remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) reorganise across the continent following the group’s defeat in Iraq and Syria.
The governments of Syria and Iraq declared ISIS defeated in 2017 after years of military offensives supported by US forces.
By the end of 2014, militant cells claiming allegiance to ISIS or operating as its affiliates had surfaced in several conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
In a newly released counterterrorism strategy, the US said the terrorist group fragmented and shifted operations to Africa and Central Asia, taking advantage of weak governance systems in affected regions.
“As a result, today there are parts of Africa where a resurgent terror threat is the reality. These include in West Africa, the Sahel region, the Lake Chad Basin, Mozambique, Sudan, and of course Somalia, where parts of ISIS have re-established themselves and Al Shabaab maintains its tribal-based Islamist insurgency,” the document stated.
The US noted that ISIS-linked factions in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin — areas that include parts of northern Nigeria — operate under Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), carrying out attacks on civilians and security forces while controlling territory.
“In Africa, we have two clear goals that depart from the nation-building and interventionist policies of the past. The first is to guarantee that none of the Jihadi groups can build a base of operations that allows them to plot and execute attacks against the United States and American interests around the world,” the document stated.
“The second is to protect Christians, who have been slaughtered at the hands of these Jihadi groups.”
Some US lawmakers and advocacy groups have accused Nigerian authorities of not doing enough to tackle extremist attacks targeting Christian communities.
However, the administration of President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly argued that the country’s security crisis goes beyond ethnic or religious divisions.
The US also referenced President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Islamist militants on Christmas Day, saying it showed that attacks on Christian communities would not be overlooked.
Nigeria said it approved the military operation.
Although the US plans to reduce its military presence globally, the strategy document stated that it would continue operations against extremist organisations in Africa capable of threatening American interests abroad.
The US added that it is strengthening bilateral counterterrorism partnerships with African countries and will continue supporting governments facing threats from ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked groups through intelligence sharing and counterterrorism training until “our shared foes no longer pose a serious threat to either them or us”.
“Wherever possible, we will marry such CT cooperation with the stabilizing effect of heightened trade and commercial relations, as witnessed by President Trump’s historic peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – an example of how security is a prerequisite for prosperity,” the US said.
The document further stated that Africa possesses “almost limitless potential”, but stressed that governments must maintain control over their territories and eliminate safe havens for terrorists and violent extremist groups.
It also noted that regional allies would be expected to shoulder a greater share of counterterrorism responsibilities.