Sahel experts warn of expanding ISIS threat in Africa

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- The "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) poses a significant threat to peace and stability in Africa, where it has been recruiting fighters and seeking to expand its sphere of influence, security analysts said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday (June 19) called on nations to "stand as one" against the global threat of terrorism and violent extremism.

"Al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates in Africa are rapidly gaining ground in places like the Sahel and probing southward toward the Gulf of Guinea," he said, also citing the "brutal legacy" of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, AFP reported.

In March, members of the international coalition to defeat ISIS met in Niamey, Niger, to discuss ways of addressing the ISIS threat in the Coastal West African states, the Sahel region, East Africa and Central and Southern Africa.

They endorsed an Africa Focus Group Action Plan that aims to strengthen border security; collect biometrics of known and suspected terrorists; protect and use battlefield evidence and counter ISIS propaganda, recruitment and financing.

The stepped up measures -- and recent blacklisting of a key Sahel-based ISIS operative -- come as the extremist group ramps up its recruitment efforts and attacks across the continent, where it has been seeking to edge out al-Qaeda.

Sahel region conflict expert Mohammed el-Amin al-Dah noted the increased sophistication of ISIS terror operations in the border area between Niger, Chad and Cameroon -- a region the group refers to as the "state of West Africa".

Though al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) has appeared to be more active in the recent period, al-Dah told Al-Mashareq, ISIS is still recruiting youth and carrying out attacks in Niger and Mali.

Bloody clashes broke out last year between ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) and JNIM in the city of Gao in Mali and along the Mali-Burkina Faso border following the defection of 150 members of JNIM to ISIS-GS.

'More brutal actions'

Tuareg leader Moussa Ag Acharatoumane of Mali's National Transitional Council (interim parliament) on May 30 issued a warning about ISIS's expansion in Africa.

"Two years ago, Nigeria replaced Libya as the country from which ISIS now obtains fighters, weapons, ammunition and fuel to supply its activities in the border triangle between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali," he said on Twitter.

"There are real fears that Sudan will become its next source. We must exercise the highest levels of caution," he said.

Burkina Faso, one of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world, is struggling with an extremist insurgency that swept in from Mali in 2015.

About a third of the country lies outside the government's control, according to official estimates, and more than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died, while at least two million people have been displaced, AFP reported.

"There is no doubt that ISIS is still betting on the use of force and more brutal actions" to expand its areas of influence in Africa, terror group researcher Mohammed Bushikhi told Al-Mashareq.

ISIS is stepping up its attacks against al-Qaeda affiliates in areas where there is weak governance or where al-Qaeda has a sparse presence, he said, noting that ISIS always seeks to present itself as an alternative to al-Qaeda.

Still an active threat

The United States has taken steps to confront the threat posed by ISIS, particularly by drying up the group's sources of recruits and income. It has done so by sanctioning its most active and dynamic operatives.

"ISIS remains an active threat to peace and stability and maintains connections to the global financial system to fund its terrorist activities," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a June 8 statement.

The statement announced sanctions on one of the most active ISIS leaders in Africa, Abu Bakr bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Mainuki, a Sahel-based senior leader of the group's regional General Directorate of Provinces (GDP) al-Furqan Office.

The strategy of drying up funding sources and placing terrorists on watch lists is intended to weaken ISIS and help law enforcement.

Al-Mainuki, who previously served on the ISIS shura council in Africa and has several aliases, was a leader in the Nigerian Boko Haram group until he joined ISIS in 2015, said al-Dah, the Sahel conflict analyst.

He was named "deputy governor general of West Africa" of ISIS's al-Furqan office, which includes Sahel countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso, and an area the group refers to as "Wilayat Libya" (the province or state of Libya).

"Al-Mainuki is a prominent leader in the overall ISIS group in al-Furqan's office, which is based in the Sahel," Bushikhi said.

Based on the US statement, "he is still alive and fulfilling his leadership duties, contrary to past reports of him being killed by the Nigerian army", he added.

Bushikhi said the actions taken by the United States to undermine the threat of ISIS in Africa "reflects the priority of fighting ISIS in the US security strategy".