Terrorism

Terrorism

Over recent years it has emerged that, in addition to drug traffickers, and the related organized crime elements, terrorist groups have begun exploiting structural state weaknesses in the West African sub-region, including especially the porous borders and socioeconomic discontent. It seems that the other negative trends which are problematic in the region—the smuggling of arms, drugs and contraband, widespread corruption, poor governance and a history of hostage taking for ransom in the Sahelian region—have provided an opportunity for the entrance of terrorist organizations with operatives, and the lines between Islamic militancy and organized crime are becoming blurred.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)

AQIM is the most well-known and verifiable terrorist group whose operation affects West Africa. AQIM is a terrorist organization with its origins in Algeria (in North Africa). It has spread its operations to Mali, Mauritania and Niger (all in West Africa). It seems AQIM operatives have learned their techniques from Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan, and AQIM is gaining a foothold in lawless parts of regions in that part of the Sahara, with nomadic tribes, where local loyalties take precedence over other allegiances.

In Mauritania, in December 2007 four French tourists were murdered by attackers linked to Al-Qaida. In February 2008 gunmen alleged to have links with AQIM opened fire on the Israeli embassy in the capital, Nouakchott. In September of that year twelve Mauritanian soldiers were killed in an ambush claimed by AQIM. In August 2009 AQIM claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack directed at the French Embassy. In December of that same year Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for kidnapping two Italians, weeks after kidnapping three Spanish aid workers. Mauritania adopted new anti-terrorism law in July 2010 to enhance the powers of national security forces to combat AQIM. In September 2010 the Mauritanian air force launched attacks at suspected Al-Qaida militant bases in Mali, after kidnappers crossed into Mali with seven foreigners who had been abducted in Niger.

In Niger, in December 2008 the UN secretary-general’s special envoy to Niger, Robert Fowler, and his aide was kidnapped by Al-Qaida. (They were both subsequently released in April 2009.) In April 2010, a French national was kidnapped near the borders with Mali and Algeria, with Al-Qaida claiming responsibility. The hostage was killed after a failed French rescue raid in Mali. In September 2010 seven foreigners were kidnapped in northern Niger. In January 2011 two French nationals, kidnapped by suspected AQIM militants, were killed in a rescue attempt involving French military forces.

In April 2010 Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria established a joint command to deal with the threat of terrorism.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah and, more recently, the Taliban have both been identified as having had some form of operational or opportunistic links in the region, especially through money laundering. The widespread population of Lebanese descent found in many countries along the coast of West Africa may also include some with links, at least of a financial nature, to Hezbollah.

The connected threats of money laundering and the financing of terrorism are of significant concern in West Africa. The May 2010 report by GIABA noted that because the size of the informal economy in West Africa (constituting the equivalent of about 60 to 70 percent of the formal regional GDP), the nature of tax evasion in the region, the problem of corruption (which has a corrosive impact on state capacity, with state officials using their positions of privilege to aid in laundering) and the region’s role as a drug transit point, money laundering and the financing of terrorism would be particular problems.

GIABA specifically notes that “one area of concern in West Africa is that the Lebanese political party, Hezbollah, has something of a funding network in the region. While much of the charitable fundraising carried out in the region is undoubtedly legitimate, concerns about the use of some funds to support terrorist acts is a major concern. Other concerns about terrorist financing relate to the activities of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb, which operates in the Sahara desert”.

The Taliban

On 10 and 12 February 2011 five alleged Taliban operatives were arrested by Liberian security personnel and subsequently transferred into the custody of the US. The five have since been charged in the US in connection with a plot to assist the Afghan Taliban by sending weapons to their insurgents and transporting tons of Afghan heroin through West Africa. The five arrested men were reported to have operated drug trafficking networks in Benin and elsewhere in the region. (Two Americans linked to the plot were arrested in Romania and were charged with conspiracy to sell automatic rifles, air-to-surface missiles and other weapons to the Taliban to support their operations.)

These particular arrests, while achieved as a result of a security operation by Liberian and US undercover agents posing as Taliban, nevertheless confirm the general threat that exists and the way that the sub-region’s vulnerabilities could be exploited by terrorists elsewhere to further their purposes including using the area to launch attacks both sub-regionally or elsewhere.