Spiral of violence in West Africa

Following the violent deaths of 28 people in terrorist attacks in West Africa since Friday last week – probably committed by Islamist extremists – the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns of the consequences of an escalation of violence for the civilian population. "The civilian population of West Africa is suffering under the increasing attacks by Islamists and criminal gangs. The murders of six members of a French aid organization should be a wake-up call for Europe to go to more effort to get a grip on the violence," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's Director, in Göttingen on Monday. The French citizens, their driver, and a guide had been murdered in an animal sanctuary in Niger on Sunday. Last Friday, 20 people had been killed by armed motorcyclists in a similar manner, at a cattle market in the village of Namoungou in Burkina Faso. According to the human rights organization, it is mostly Islamist extremists who are responsible for such attacks – but the boundaries to crime by armed gangs are not clear. Regular armed forces and militarily equipped self-defense groups are fueling the cycle of violence as well.

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, and the north of Nigeria are also affected by the escalating violence. Only last week, the UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) reported a significant increase in violence against the civilian population between April and June 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2020, especially in the center of the country. MINUSMA documented 632 abductions, murders, summary executions, assaults, and intimidation, in which more than 320 people died between April 1 and June 30, 2020. 

"Many of the military initiatives to curb Islamist violence are poorly coordinated. Poor equipment and a lack of motivation among the armed forces is undermining the effectiveness of the fight against Islamist perpetrators in West Africa," Delius explained. Equipping villagers with weapons to build up self-defense militias often turns out to be very problematic, as the weapons are then also used in neighborhood conflicts, thereby further fueling violence.

Too little attention is paid to the background of Islamist violence. For example, very few fighters in these groups joined the terror squads out of Islamist conviction. Many decided to fight as mercenaries for the Islamist organizations for financial reasons. "The social backgrounds of the mostly young armed motorcyclists who spread terror are largely ignored," Delius warned. "Military means alone will not win the fight against the Islamist terror groups," the human rights advocate emphasized.