Terrorism in Africa increased 100,000% during US 'war on terror': Study
Deaths from terrorism in Africa have soared more than 100,000 percent during the US so-called “war on terror” in the continent, according to a new study by a Pentagon research institution.
The study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies revealed that during 2002 and 2003, when the US was just beginning its decades-long war, a total of just nine terrorist attacks were counted throughout all of Africa, leading to only 23 casualties.
But after about two decades of US intervention in Africa with the purported aim of helping the continent and making alleged counter-terrorism efforts, deaths from Takfiri violence in Africa increased to 23,322 last year, reaching “a record level of lethal violence,” according to the Africa Center.
The figure represents a 101,300 percent jump since 2002-2003 and a 20 percent increase from 19,412 in 2022, it said.
“These findings contradict claims by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) that it is thwarting terrorist threats on the continent and promoting security and stability,” said an article run by Responsible Statecraft on Monday.
Noting that the US so-called counter-terrorism efforts “have been centered on two main fronts: Somalia and the West African Sahel”, the article said, “Each saw significant spikes in terrorism last year.”
Citing the Africa Center, the article said Somalia saw “a 22-percent increase in fatalities in 2023 — reaching a record high of 7,643 deaths.” The figure represents a tripling of fatalities since 2020.
“The findings are even more damning for the Sahel… Today, the nations of the West African Sahel are plagued by terrorist groups that have grown, evolved, splintered, and reconstituted themselves,” the article added.
According to the Africa Center report, “fatalities in the Sahel amounted to 50 percent” of all Takfiri terrorist-linked fatalities reported on the continent in 2023.
Last April, a US-based geopolitical analyst Elias Amare told Press TV that the Western imperialist powers are the source of the current upsurge in terrorism across Africa, and therefore they cannot be part of the solution to the challenges the continent is facing.
Amare said the remnants of terrorist groups hired by the United States have now expanded their activities and given rise to terrorism, particularly in the Sahel region.
“Western military forces are not supposed to end terrorism [in Africa], the terrorism is a pretext to continue the proxy war and justify the military presence of the Western imperialist forces to occupy Africa and control its military and resources,” he said.
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