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Terrorist Threat Only Increased in Sahel Amid West’s Series of Ops, Nebenzya Says
Terrorist Threat Only Increased in Sahel Amid West’s Series of Ops, Nebenzya Says
Sputnik Africa
NATO’s 2011 intervention in Libya, characterized by mass casualties among civilians and Gaddafi's murder led to the spread of terrorism in the Sahel region, where nations continue to suffer from militant activity
2023-03-29T12:36+0200
2023-03-29T12:36+0200
2023-08-03T10:48+0200
sub-saharan africa
united nations (un)
vassily nebenzya
north atlantic treaty organization (nato)
terrorism
france
burkina faso
north africa
west africa
international
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Amid the series of operations conducted by the West, the terrorist threat has only increased in Sahel, Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, said at the UN Security Council meeting on counter-terrorism.Nebenzya has also highlighted that African countries have a right to choose who to partner with and on which terms, as some of western delegations raised the issue of Russia-Africa partnership during the meeting.According to him, Russia agrees that greater attention must be paid to identifying and eradicating the causes of terrorism. In this context, Nebenzya noted that corruption and socio-economic problems are not the only reasons for the emergence of terrorism, as “the massive spread of terrorism in Sahel was caused by the West's brazen military intervention in Libya, which has destabilized the entire region.”Russia's permanent representative referred to the 2011 NATO intervention into Libya, when then-president Muamar Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered. The NATO operation, which lasted over 200 days, according to experts' estimations, plunged the country and the region into chaos for years to come.During the civil war, weapons were made available for al-Qaeda* and its proliferation worsened security issues in the Sahel, experts believe.Elaborating on the Western operations' influence on the security situation in Africa, Nebenzya also noted that “not only foreign contingents in a number of Sahel countries failed to help turn the situation around, but during their presence the situation has deteriorated dramatically.”Additionally, he stressed that counter-terrorism strategy of some Western powers is unacceptable as they try "to divide the states of the region, saying that some countries are supposedly worthy of assistance in countering terrorist threats, while others are not" and push terrorists only up to the borders of some countries and later militants squeeze to Mali and Burkina Faso aggravating the threat to the nations.Recently, French influence in some West Africa nations started crumbling amid a wave of protests against the presence of French troops on the countries' soil. The year 2022 saw the end of Operation Barkhane, the multi-year Paris-led campaign in western and central Africa supposedly aimed at fighting terrorism.In the case of Mali, from where France withdrew its last soldiers in August 2022, Bamako accused France of supporting terrorists on its territory in a letter to the UN, where 16 violations were listed including invasion into Malian airspace and transporting terrorists on Mali’s soil from one location to another. After a series of protest against France's military presence in Burkina Faso, the government decided to cut ties with Paris over the failure to secure the country as the French operation was believed to be not efficient.Amid the dissatisfaction with French policy in Africa, President Emmanuel Macron claimed that Paris was going to reorganize its military presence in Africa, announcing the end of the "age of Francafrique."* A terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.
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nebenzya, terrorism, intervention in lybya
nebenzya, terrorism, intervention in lybya
Terrorist Threat Only Increased in Sahel Amid West’s Series of Ops, Nebenzya Says
12:36 29.03.2023 (Updated: 10:48 03.08.2023) NATO’s 2011 intervention in Libya, characterized by mass casualties among civilians and Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow and murder led to the spread of terrorism in the Sahel region, where nations continue to suffer from militant activity, according to widely circulating expert opinions.
Amid the series of operations conducted by the West, the terrorist threat has only increased in Sahel, Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, said at the UN Security Council meeting on counter-terrorism.
Nebenzya has also highlighted that African countries have a right to choose who to partner with and on which terms, as some of western delegations raised the issue of Russia-Africa partnership during the meeting.
“It is the failures of Western states that are forcing African countries to turn to those who can make a real contribution to the fight against terrorism on the continent. We all remember that amidst some Western operations in Africa ostensibly aimed at fighting terrorism, the terrorist threat in West Africa and the Sahel only continued to grow,” Nebenzya said.
According to him, Russia agrees that greater attention must be paid to identifying and eradicating the causes of terrorism.
In this context, Nebenzya noted that corruption and socio-economic problems are not the only reasons for the emergence of terrorism, as “the massive spread of terrorism in Sahel was caused by the West's brazen military intervention in Libya, which has destabilized the entire region.”
Russia's permanent representative referred to the 2011 NATO intervention into Libya, when then-president Muamar Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered. The NATO operation, which lasted over 200 days, according to experts' estimations, plunged the country and the region into chaos for years to come.
During the civil war, weapons were made available for al-Qaeda* and its proliferation worsened security issues in the Sahel, experts believe.
Elaborating on the Western operations' influence on the security situation in Africa, Nebenzya also noted that “not only foreign contingents in a number of Sahel countries failed to help turn the situation around, but during their presence the situation has deteriorated dramatically.”
"Attempts to justify such outcomes by conflicts on religious, ethnic or social grounds are a manipulation inherent in colonial powers for decades," he added.
Additionally, he stressed that counter-terrorism strategy of some Western powers is unacceptable as they try "to divide the states of the region, saying that some countries are supposedly worthy of assistance in countering terrorist threats, while others are not" and push terrorists only up to the borders of some countries and later militants squeeze to Mali and Burkina Faso aggravating the threat to the nations.
Recently, French influence in some West Africa nations started crumbling amid a wave of protests against the presence of French troops on the countries' soil.
The year 2022 saw the end of Operation Barkhane, the multi-year Paris-led campaign in western and central Africa supposedly aimed at fighting terrorism.
In the case of Mali, from where France withdrew its last soldiers in August 2022, Bamako
accused France of supporting terrorists on its territory in a letter to the UN, where 16 violations were listed including invasion into Malian airspace and transporting terrorists on Mali’s soil from one location to another.
After a series of protest against France's military presence in Burkina Faso, the government decided to cut ties with Paris over the failure to secure the country as the French operation was
believed to be not efficient.Amid the dissatisfaction with French policy in Africa, President Emmanuel Macron claimed that Paris was going to reorganize its military presence in Africa, announcing the end of the "age of Francafrique."
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.
