As extremist violence in West Africa’s Sahel region spreads south toward coastal states, the United States military has launched its annual military training exercise aimed at helping armies contain the jihadi threat.
A Ghanaian soldier performs in hook and climb drills during Flintlock 2023 on a Spanish frigate at Tema port, Ghana, Thursday, March 9, 2023. Some 1,300 military personnel from 29 countries are training in Ghana and Ivory Coast, amid surging jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that's killed thousands, displaced millions and plunged countries into crises. –
While most of the extremist activity is concentrated in West Africa's inland Sahel region in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the violence is rapidly spreading to coastal states like Ghana, which is experiencing an upsurge in attacks by unidentified groups, which could have links to jihadis. Ghana had just one violent attack in 2021 but that figure rose dramatically to 17 in 2022, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
“If the instability gets too broad or too bad then it opens the aperture for other malign actors to try and influence and try and corrupt the messaging to gain access to some of these governments,” said U.S. Col. Rob Zyla, deputy commander for Special Operations Command Africa. Ghanaian military officials say they worry jihadis will soon work with the pirates to make the waters unsafe which would limit economic activity for the coastal countries.
“The reality of the state of affairs in our neighborhood demands that the government goes to great lengths to ensure the security, safety and stability of our nation,” he said. Ghana is also part of the Accra Initiative, a military platform involving Burkina Faso and nearby coastal countries to battle the further spread of extremism in the Sahel.
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