Al-Qaeda attack aimed at Islamic State
by Pauline Bax,
2016-03-16 07:02:23.0
MILITANTS linked to al-Qaeda are broadening attacks across West Africa from their base in the desert to the coast. Their goal is to present themselves as the champions of resistance to France’s military in the region and prevent Islamic State’s (IS’s) expansion.
Two groups — al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Mourabitoune — have claimed joint responsibility for assaults in Mali, Burkina Faso and Cote d’ Ivoire that have killed more than 65 people, many of them foreigners, since November.
The weekend attack on a seaside town in Cote d’ Ivoire was the first strike hundreds of kilometres from the Sahel, an arid region below the Sahara, where French soldiers have been fighting militants since 2013.
The French presence in former colonies, from Mali to Niger to Cote d’ Ivoire, is being used by al-Qaeda as a justification for its high-profile assaults on West African cities. The two groups recently reunited to compete with I S, which has bases to the north in Libya and is trying to recruit fighters and expand in the Sahel, according to Mathieu Guidere, an analyst at the University of Toulouse II of Islamist groups in West and North Africa.
"Al-Qaeda has changed strategy and is competing with IS in the region," Mr Guidere said. "They are presenting their actions as resistance to the neocolonialist movement of France in Africa. There is a consistency in their attacks, and this means that their fighters no longer want to leave for IS in Libya."
France has deployed 3,000 soldiers in the Sahe,l following the seizure of northern Mali by Islamist rebels in 2012. Even after French fighter jets pushed them back, militants kept bases near desert towns such as Kidal and regularly carry out hit-and-run attacks on United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops. The UN says its mission in Mali has suffered the highest death toll of any of its operations globally.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has urged countries that have deployed soldiers to Mali to withdraw from what it calls "this satanic alliance".
Kidal is about 2,200km from Grand Bassam, the site of last weekend’s attacks.
Cote d’ Ivoire, the world’s biggest producer of cocoa, had been on high alert since November, when gunmen stormed into a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako, killing more than 20 people. The authorities had thwarted several militant plots before Sunday’s assault, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said on Monday. A cellphone found at the scene should shed more light on the perpetrators, he added.
Even with increased security, it will be extremely difficult to prevent future attacks, said Bjorn Dahlin van Wees, an Africa analyst at the Economist Intelligence unit.
The Cote d’ Ivoire "attack was new, in the sense that it was so far away from the core areas of these groups", he said. "There’s certainly a risk of more attacks: they use simple weaponry, the borders are porous. Cities with a large western or French presence are the main targets."
Analysts agree that Senegal is likely to be targeted next. Formerly the seat of the French colonial administration in Africa, it has beaches that attract thousands of European tourists, and the biggest population of French citizens in West Africa — 20,000. The country is predominantly Muslim.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb surfaced in the early 2000s as an offshoot from an Algerian militant group.
"The combination of their expanding ideology and the anti-colonialist trend within the population makes it very difficult to stop militants from making these kinds of attacks," Mr Guidere said.
"You need a strategy to counter radicalisation; an awareness campaign to explain to people why the French are there."
Bloomberg
HIGH ALERT: Ivorian soldiers patrol the beach in Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire after an attack at the weekend that killed 18 people. Picture: REUTERS
MILITANTS linked to al-Qaeda are broadening attacks across West Africa from their base in the desert to the coast. Their goal is to present themselves as the champions of resistance to France’s military in the region and prevent Islamic State’s (IS’s) expansion.
Two groups — al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Mourabitoune — have claimed joint responsibility for assaults in Mali, Burkina Faso and Cote d’ Ivoire that have killed more than 65 people, many of them foreigners, since November.
The weekend attack on a seaside town in Cote d’ Ivoire was the first strike hundreds of kilometres from the Sahel, an arid region below the Sahara, where French soldiers have been fighting militants since 2013.
The French presence in former colonies, from Mali to Niger to Cote d’ Ivoire, is being used by al-Qaeda as a justification for its high-profile assaults on West African cities. The two groups recently reunited to compete with I S, which has bases to the north in Libya and is trying to recruit fighters and expand in the Sahel, according to Mathieu Guidere, an analyst at the University of Toulouse II of Islamist groups in West and North Africa.
"Al-Qaeda has changed strategy and is competing with IS in the region," Mr Guidere said. "They are presenting their actions as resistance to the neocolonialist movement of France in Africa. There is a consistency in their attacks, and this means that their fighters no longer want to leave for IS in Libya."
France has deployed 3,000 soldiers in the Sahe,l following the seizure of northern Mali by Islamist rebels in 2012. Even after French fighter jets pushed them back, militants kept bases near desert towns such as Kidal and regularly carry out hit-and-run attacks on United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops. The UN says its mission in Mali has suffered the highest death toll of any of its operations globally.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has urged countries that have deployed soldiers to Mali to withdraw from what it calls "this satanic alliance".
Kidal is about 2,200km from Grand Bassam, the site of last weekend’s attacks.
Cote d’ Ivoire, the world’s biggest producer of cocoa, had been on high alert since November, when gunmen stormed into a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako, killing more than 20 people. The authorities had thwarted several militant plots before Sunday’s assault, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said on Monday. A cellphone found at the scene should shed more light on the perpetrators, he added.
Even with increased security, it will be extremely difficult to prevent future attacks, said Bjorn Dahlin van Wees, an Africa analyst at the Economist Intelligence unit.
The Cote d’ Ivoire "attack was new, in the sense that it was so far away from the core areas of these groups", he said. "There’s certainly a risk of more attacks: they use simple weaponry, the borders are porous. Cities with a large western or French presence are the main targets."
Analysts agree that Senegal is likely to be targeted next. Formerly the seat of the French colonial administration in Africa, it has beaches that attract thousands of European tourists, and the biggest population of French citizens in West Africa — 20,000. The country is predominantly Muslim.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb surfaced in the early 2000s as an offshoot from an Algerian militant group.
"The combination of their expanding ideology and the anti-colonialist trend within the population makes it very difficult to stop militants from making these kinds of attacks," Mr Guidere said.
"You need a strategy to counter radicalisation; an awareness campaign to explain to people why the French are there."
Bloomberg
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