Russian counterterrorism chief: Islamic State poses an increasing threat in Africa

According to Igor Sirotkin, there is a significant risk from the entry of foreign terrorist fighters in areas where the state is eroding.

Russian counterterrorism head has issued a warning about the risks of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), resurfacing as a “African caliphate.”

Igor Sirotkin, deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and head of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, stated that sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Maghreb and Sahel regions, is turning into a hotbed of terrorism during a high-level UN conference of the heads of counter-terrorism agencies on Tuesday.

Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia make up the Maghreb region of North Africa, whereas Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria, with Mauritania included, make up the Sahel.

According to Sirotkin, “armed terrorist groups are expanding their influence” in these regions, he said during the UN session. According to AFP, he continued, “We see the danger of IS reincarnating as an African caliphate.”

Experts declared Africa the epicenter of global terrorism at the Tuesday panel on assessing current and emerging terrorist trends and threats, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for half of the casualties in the previous year, while highlighting that al-Qaeda and IS affiliates are still active and pervasive in other parts of the world.

According to AFP, UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari stated that “Africa has emerged as the key battleground for terrorism, with a significant increase in the number of active groups operating on the continent.”

As a result of the supply of weapons and foreign fighters from Libya, Khiari claimed that a number of regions of the continent, including Burkina Faso, the Sahel, Chad, and Sudan, continue to suffer.

In recent years, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a local term for ISIS-Democratic Republic of Congo (ISIS-DRC), have been charged with carrying out multiple attacks inaccessible parts of eastern Congo that targeted civilians.

The rebel organization apparently took responsibility for attacks in the DRC earlier this year. A January raid in the town of Makugwe in the North Kivu province resulted in at least 23 fatalities. Additionally, it is charged of detonating a bomb inside a Kasindi church, which resulted in at least 14 deaths and numerous injuries.

At least 41 people were killed in the ADF attack on a school in Mpondwe, close to the Congo border, according to Ugandan authorities, the bulk of whom were students.