There is little opportunity for the people in the region to receive an education and find work that would allow them to sustain their families. Most of the states that have territory in the Sahel are grappling with the destructive effects of climate change, poverty, food shortages, ethnic conflicts and lack of effective democratic governance. There are several reasons for ISIL’s ongoing success in this vast region that runs west to east across the continent from Senegal to Sudan. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), the prodigy of ISIL there, is going from strength to strength, bolstering its membership and carrying out attacks. Today, ISIL does not control any major city or township in these states and many of the group’s fighters in the region are either dead, in captivity or on the run.ĭespite the collapse of its so-called “caliphate” in the Middle East, and the killing of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria, however, ISIL remains a growing and evolving threat in other parts of the world, especially in Africa’s restive Sahel region. Over the last few years, regional and global powers, aided by non-state actors, managed to eliminate ISIL from most of Iraq and Syria. It is in the shadows of this crumbling landscape that ISIL first began to emerge, nourished by the increasing frailty and incompetency of Arab states in revolt or at war.
Since the occupation of Iraq by US forces in 2003, the region has been stuck in a vicious cycle of conflict, sectarianism and regime change. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the Middle East was a textbook example of this trend. They usually start their operations and recruit followers in countries where there is poverty, corruption, religious conflict or ethnic strife, and where the security forces are unable to keep the public safe and illegal formations under control. We are hoping the Americans will play a more active role for a Syrian political settlement - they should do.Illegal armed groups are opportunistic by nature. “We don’t see much happening in the short term. The Kurds have spoken to Damascus in an attempt to find a political settlement. The Kurds have asked the Americans to help re-open the Al-Yaarubiyah border crossing between Syria and Iraq for international aid, and to play a role in helping a political settlement, Ahmed said.Īhmed, who met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow last month, said the Kurds had also been speaking to the Russians - “the main player in Syria” - and was ready for dialogue with Iran too. Syria’s minority Kurds, who were discriminated against by Assad’s pan-Arabist ruling Baath party, run a civilian administration that governs the affairs of several million Syrians once ruled from Damascus. “Before they were unclear under Trump and during the Afghan withdrawal, but this time they made everything clear.” “They said they are going to stay in Syria and will not withdraw - they will keep fighting ISIS,” Ahmed said. “They promised to do whatever it takes to destroy ISIS and work to build infrastructure in Northeastern Syria,” he told Reuters after meetings in Washington with White House, State Department and Pentagon representatives. The chaotic Western withdrawal from Afghanistan stoked concern across the Middle East that Trump’s successor Joe Biden might abandon allies across the region as Washington perceived China to be the main strategic challenge.īut Ilham Ahmed - president of the executive committee of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political arm of the YPG - said the United States had given a clear commitment to the Kurds.
But in 2019 then-President Donald Trump pulled most US forces out of Syria to enable a Turkish offensive against the Kurds. President Bashar al-Assad was supported by Russia and Iran while the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was backed by the United States. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.