Militant attacks in Africa increase 300% despite US operations: Report

A new report from the Pentagon has shown that militant attacks increased 300 percent in Africa over the past decade.

The September report from the Pentagon’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies showed that the west Sahel region and Somalia were the militancy hot spots where most of the attacks had been carried out.

According to Press TV, the report added that roughly 95 percent of the increase in militant attacks was perpetrated by extremist groups affiliated to Daesh and al-Qaeda militants, such as al-Shabab.

“The record 2,221 violent events reported are a 45-percent increase from the 3-year average from 2018-2020,” the report said.

The report comes months into ongoing US operations against militancy in the regions.

In this regard, Pentagon’s African Command or AFRICOM, whose area of responsibility covers all of Africa except Egypt, describes the duties of the force as promoting regional security, stability and prosperity, while assisting to strengthen security forces of allied nations. But it also admits AFRICOM will work to advance US national interests on the continent.

Former US president Donald Trump had ordered the military to pull out all its troops from Africa. However, the incumbent ordered the US military to maintain a permanent presence in Africa. Last year, US President Joe Biden authorized the deployment of hundreds of American troops to “reestablish a small, persistent US military presence”.

According to the report, the incidents in the region which involved militants had decreased by 23 percent over the past year. The report pointed out that “virtually all 222 violent events and 313 fatalities reported in North Africa” occurred in Egypt and were linked to the Daesh militant outfit in the Sinai Province, marking a 50 percent decline over the past 3 years.