France in Africa: Facing Jihad and Russia
zlotx5
Tue, 06/06/2023 – 04:55
Like the Iranian nuclear question before it, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has pushed the jihadist threat in the Sahel into the background. This has not diminished the problem, however, it has only increased and expanded across the African continent. Since 2013, the French military operations Serval and Barkahane at first reduced, and then contained the impact of jihad in the region. During the ten years of French engagement, most of the international jihadists, Algerians and Mauritanians, have been marginalized, even as the propagation of terrorist groups has continued, due to endogenous factors. The retreat of the French armed forces, pushed out of Mail and the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) by the Russian Wagner Group and local governments, has fanned the jihadist flame throughout the region. Today the African continent has become the epicenter of jihadist groups who eye the populations of the Sahel as a possible source for new recruits to rebuild their forces.
The jihadism in 2022-23 is a different version of what it was earlier. Ten years ago, jihad was imported into the Sahel from abroad. Today, it is home-grown, nourished by local causes, …read more
Source:: Hoover Institution
