Aqeel: The international community should take into consideration the security situation in the Sahel region

Pasha: We warn that the performance and capabilities of terrorist groups in West Africa will develop unless they are confronted collectively

The Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights launched a monitoring and analysis report of the most prominent terrorist operations that took place in Africa in February 2020. The report was titled: “The Lens of Terrorist Operations in Africa: February 2020”. Provided that this report is issued monthly to track the course of terrorist groups, to come up with recommendations and assessments of the current and future security situation in the African continent.

The first report of the "Lens of Terrorist Operations in Africa" dealt with the details of the most prominent terrorist operations that occurred last February, in each of the five regions of the continent, which occurred in 11 African countries, and left more than 30 terrorist attacks, and caused the deaths of 303 people. While Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab were at the forefront of the groups that caused the largest numbers of victims.

The report mentioned that the West Africa region is the worst affected, with 55.8% terrorist attacks occurring. Nigeria ranked first in terms of the most affected countries, with an estimated 28.4% of victims for the month, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo witnessed the most attacks, with 6 terrorist attacks.

Ayman Aqeel stated; President of Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, that the international community and regional parties must take into account the West African region, especially the Sahel region, where Boko Haram is clearly incursion. Aqeel recommended the African Peace and Security Council to quickly determine the deployment mechanisms and timetable for the forces that had announced their formation of 3 thousand soldiers in the Sahel region for a period of 6 months to confront terrorism in the west of the continent.

While Abdul Rahman Pasha, a senior researcher at the Foundation's African Affairs Unit, stated that terrorist groups are heading largely to West Africa after they have proven and proven their presence for years in the east of the continent. "Pasha" stated that the international community should make more efforts towards spreading moderate thought in West Africa, in order to protect that environment that is conducive to the further spread of extremist thought and action in the near and distant future. "Pasha" warned of the development of the performance and capabilities of terrorist groups in the West, unless they are collectively confronted.

It is worth noting that the continent of Africa comes within the interest of the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, as it is a member of the General Assembly in the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, as well as the North Africa region coordinator in the group of major African NGOs affiliated to the high-level political forum of the United Nations.