UN chief: G5 Sahel group needs help to fight terror
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that terrorist groups have strengthened their hold across sub-Saharan Africa.
In a report to the UN Security Council, Mr Guterres said extremists were “making large swaths of territory unstable and stoking ethnic violence, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali”.
Mr Guterres said countering terrorism in the region “cannot be outsourced” to the G5 Sahel force set up by Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania.
“Terrorism is a global issue and the entire international community has a responsibility to contribute to the collective effort of tackling extremist violence in the Sahel, along with other cross-border challenges including trafficking in persons, illicit goods, weapons and drugs, and migration and displacement,” he said.
Mr Guterres said the challenges facing the region are caused by poverty, marginalisation, impunity and weakened government presence.
Civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, Mr Guterres said, calling the numbers affected shocking.
Burkina Faso experienced the most significant rise, with 486,000 displaced people this year compared with 80,000 last year, he said.
Mr Guterres’s report focused on the G5 Sahel force, which he said “continues to face significant training, capability and equipment shortfalls”.
“The lack of air assets, armoured vehicles and transport and individual protection equipment compounds the threat posed by the use of improvised explosive devices,” he said.
But Mr Guterres said he was “particularly encouraged” by the commitment of leaders of the West African regional group Ecowas at a summit in September to pledge “$1 billion [Dh3.67bn] to fight terrorism and extremism over the next five years”.
He said this “illustrates a willingness to take ownership and address the challenges facing the countries”.
Mr Guterres also welcomed contributions from the EU and others, and said the US gave equipment and training to troops from Chad, Mauritania and Niger.
But, he said, the G5 Sahel force would need more support “to fully play its role and yield more tangible results” in fighting ISIS and other extremist groups.