Terrorism in the Sahel

The issue of terrorism in the African Sahel region is once again relevant, but this time through an explicit and direct accusation by the interim government of Mali against the military regime of Algeria.  

The accusation arose after a drone belonging to the Malian Armed Forces was shot down in the Tinzouatine area, close to the Algerian border.

Investigations showed that the plane did not leave Malian airspace, confirming that its destruction was the result of a hostile attack by Algeria, which Mali considered a flagrant aggression, a violation of its sovereignty and a deliberate obstacle to its military efforts against terrorist groups. 

Bamako, which adopted a series of forceful measures against Algeria, including summoning its ambassador to protest, announcing its immediate withdrawal from the Joint Commission of Chiefs of Staff (CEMOC), as well as lodging a complaint with international organisations against the Algerian regime for aggression.  

Furthermore, the G5 Sahel consensus, made up of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, issued an official statement condemning the operation to shoot down the Malian drone, considering that Algeria has become a support for terrorism in the region, acting as a hidden arm to feed and structure it.

The accusation against Mali is not new in essence, but is a logical consequence of a geopolitical reality that has existed for years. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Algerian military regime has played a leading role in financing, training and arming terrorist and separatist groups, to further its expansionist agenda at the expense of its regional neighbours.  

Algeria's support for extremist groups in northern Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso is documented by evidence on the ground and open-source intelligence (OSINT), which indicates the existence of four safe corridors on the Algerian-Malian-Nigerien border, through which Algerian security and military forces provide cover and logistical support to terrorist elements active in the region, under the direct supervision of generals such as Abdelaziz El-Houam, Abdel Nour Laachab and Mohamed Ageroud, with the participation of multiple units of the Algerian Army.

Complex operations involving air support and the movement of terrorist elements on the ground are also coordinated through advanced command and surveillance centres such as those located in Tamanrasset and Bordj Badji Mokhtar.

Algerian drones launched from their bases in Hassi Terrerin provide air support to these groups, while they use satellites and intelligence data to track their movements along the border triangle between Mali, Niger and Algeria.

As for the leaders of these terrorist groups, the leader of the organisation ‘Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen’, Iyad Ag Ghali, lives under the direct protection of the Algerian military security in the town of Tinzouatine, while the founder of the branch of ‘Islamic State - Wilayat al-Sahel’ comes from the Tindouf refugee camps, which are managed by Algeria.  

Furthermore, Abdel Razak Al-Bara, a prominent leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, was a former officer of the Algerian special forces, and was in charge of carrying out kidnappings and attacks on behalf of the Algerian intelligence services in the Sahel and the Sahara, not to mention his role in coordinating with separatist and terrorist groups, which shows that terrorism in North and West Africa has been and continues to be a creation of the Algerian military regime.

Also among the main terrorist arms, it is worth mentioning Abdelmalek Droukdal, former leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and his successor Abu Ubaidah Al-Anabi, as well as Mokhtar Belmokhtar, known as ‘The Eye’, who led the organisation ‘The Signatories in Blood’, among other Algerian leaders who led the deadliest terrorist groups in the region.

Furthermore, Algeria's responsibility in supporting the Polisario Front militias cannot be overlooked, as they have been involved in a bloody attack that took the life of a Moroccan truck driver in Mali, in addition to their involvement in a series of terrorist operations in Libya and Mauritania.

A black record for Algeria that confirms to the world that it is nothing more than a subordinate member of a wider regional axis led by Iran and made up of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraqi and Syrian militias.

Finally, the Algerian military regime's continued playing with fire, by creating an unstable security environment at its borders, will not come without a cost.

The case for classifying the Polisario militias as a terrorist organisation is being seriously considered at international decision-making tables, and the day is approaching when Algeria will be recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism that threatens regional and international peace.

At that moment, a new map will be drawn up for the region, which will bring down the justifications for the existence of a fragile regime that has deceived the world for decades, making it believe that it was a fortress against terrorism, while in reality it was the one that sowed its seeds and watered them with the blood of the innocent.

Lahoucine Bekkar Sbaai, lawyer at the Bar Association before the Courts of Appeal of Agadir and Laayoune and researcher in migration and human rights 

Translation from Arabic by: Abdessamad Benyaich