Taliban triumph means more worries in Africa

The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan has taken the world by surprise. In Africa, it compounds the worry and fear in countries struggling to crush Islamist insurgencies.

For over a decade now, there's been a surge in the activities of extremist groups in East and West Africa, the Sahel and parts of southern Africa.

Many are Islamist militant groups with some form of affiliation to al-Qaeda, an organization the United Nations (UN) has said shares links with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Somalia-based media affiliated with the homegrown alShabab group hailed the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan in what could be seen as a show of support, says London-based political analyst Ahmed Rajab.

"We are not so sure of the link between the Taliban and al-Shabab, whether these links are opportunistic on the part of al-Shabab or whether they are indeed organic links between the two movements," Rajab told DW.

He says it's still too early to judge, but the Taliban could even read meaning into such messages from Africa's extremists to solidify their influence.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of an "alarming” expansion of affiliates of the so-called "Islamic State" throughout Africa on the back of the situation in Afghanistan.

That position is shared by Kwesi Aning, the director of the factulty of academic affairs and research at the Kofi Annan Interrnational Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana.

The developments in Afghanistan "can potentially put all of us in Africa and the Sahel at risk,” Aning said on Accra-based Citi FM radio.

Huge extremist presence in Africa

Al-Shabab has for many years been fighting to topple Somalia's UN-backed government and impose strict Sharia law in the country. The group has been behind deadly attacks in Somalia and the East Africa region.

Likewise, Nigeria's Boko Haram group has been behind the killing of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions in West Africa.

Islamist militants are also active in the Sahel region and parts of the West African subregion.

In Mozambique Islamist militants have caused havocafter seizing much of the far-north province of Cabo Delgado. More than 2,500 people have been killed and some 700,000 have fled their homes since the insurgency began in 2017, according to the UN.

Islamist extremists also operate in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Political analyst Kwesi Aning stressed the need for measures to guard Africa against any new threats

that may arise as a result of the current Afghan crisis.

The executive director of the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, told DW that extremists groups in Africa will only become emboldened by the happenings in Afghanistan.

There is the tendency to "offer not only hope but some sense of legitimacy, a false sense of legitimacy," for groups hoping to topple governments in the regions they operate, he said.

Avoid repeat of the Afghanistan scenario

France has announced that

The Somalia-based al-Shabab group has carried out deadly attacks in neighboring Kenya

The extremist al-Shabaab group voiced its support of the Taliban