By Ali Rıza Taşdelen
In recent years, France has been ousted from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, its soldiers expelled, and bases closed. But now France begins to reactivate the separatist and jihadist terrorist organizations that it itself created, trained and financed in the region.
The spread of terrorist groups, particularly in the Sahel region of Africa, began in 2011 with the assassination of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi by NATO led by the US and France in that case. Separatist and jihadist terrorist organizations have been one of the primary tools used by Western imperialist countries. They aim to maintain their influence over these countries through occupations, coups, and also terrorist groups on ethnic and religious grounds.
Inciting terrorist organizations against Russian presence in Africa
It is worth recalling that between July 25-27, 2024, in the Tin-Zouatin region on the Algeria-Mali border, the Malian armed forces and their Russian allies from the Wagner group were attacked and suffered heavy losses by the separatists from the “Strategic Movement for the Defense of the People of Azawad” (CSP-PDS) and the jihadists from the “Group to Support Islam and Muslims” (GSIM).
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, at the end of August, “northern rebels” gathered in the town of Tin-Zouatin, near the Algeria-Mali border, to sign a “mutual assistance agreement.” This area is the same where the attacks had happened a month earlier. What Le Monde calls the “northern rebels” are the new group of separatist Tuaregs from Mali’s northern Azawad region, CSP-PDS, and the “Patriotic Front for Liberation,” formed after the overthrow of Niger’s French collaborator Bazoum by revolutionary officers in 2023. It is no longer a secret that these separatist and jihadist groups are backed by the US and France.
Western imperialists have lined up to unite separatist and terrorist movements, which they call “peace activists” or “freedom fighters”. The French media is now entitled to glorify the terrorists. Didn’t they do the same for the PKK in Turkey and the YPG/PYD in Syria?
Algerian journalist and expert on geostrategic matters, Mehenna Hamadouche, wrote on the site elwatan-dz.com in an article titled “Support for Islamist terrorism: Paris and Washington adopt the Same strategy in the Sahel and the Middle East” that “It is well known that American and French intelligence services are working closely together to implement this evil strategy on our southern borders, posing a serious threat to Algeria’s national security. (…) The goal of these two Western powers is to push back Russian and Chinese influence on the continent”.
Ukraine is training separatist terrorists
Western imperialists have also activated their puppets. It has been revealed that Ukraine’s embassy in Senegal provided intelligence support to separatist Tuaregs during the attack in northern Mali. Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of the Defence of Ukraine Directorate (GUR) admitted its involvement in the Mali civil war on the side of Tuareg separatists. This statement was published on the website of Ukraine’s embassy in Senegal, which is the nearest diplomatic mission to Mali.
Le Monde also reported that Ukrainian intelligence services have been training separatists in Mali. Le Monde’s sources stated, “Ukrainian special services provided training to Malian insurgents on how to use small drones with explosives”. The sources also said that this training took place both on Ukrainian soil and in Mali’s Timbuktu region.
Following the confirmation that the Ukrainian government is supporting terrorist groups operating in northern Mali, Malian authorities took the most radical step of cutting diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Senegalese officials summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest the “provocative post” on the diplomatic mission’s website. The countries of the Sahel Confederation (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso) called on the UN Security Council to condemn the Ukrainian government’s support for terrorism.
The US and France’s support
Niger’s military leader, General Abdurrahman Tiani, stated in an interview on December 10, 2023, that France is the “sponsor” of terrorism in the Sahel region: “You cannot fight fire with gasoline. In our view, the flames of terrorism are being fanned by France’s support for terrorism.” Similarly, Niger’s Prime Minister Lamine Zeine, during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee in Niamey in March 2024 said “While terrorists were killing our people, Americans just stood on our soil and did nothing. Coming to our land and allowing terrorists to attack us is not a sign of friendship. We saw what the US does to defend its allies in Ukraine and Israel.” Following this meeting, relations between Niger and the US drastically deteriorated. The US base was closed, and American soldiers left the country.
The Command for Africa (CPA) of France
After the withdrawal of French and American soldiers from Niger, Russian Wagner forces took their place. This is the same scenario with that in Mali and Burkina Faso. Russia gained significant military influence in the Sahel region.
Disturbed by this, the US and France developed a new military strategy to destabilize Sahel states using separatist and jihadist terrorist organizations and to prevent the influence of Russia and China in Africa.
The French army has established an Africa command similar to AFRICOM, the unified command for Africa set up by the US military in 2008. Effective from August 1, 2024, Brigadier General Pascal Ianni, the former spokesperson for the French General Staff, was appointed to lead the Command for Africa (CPA). Ianni will be responsible for the “operational control” of French forces in the Sahel.
Although French soldiers have been expelled from these three Sahel countries, a few troops totaling 2,300 personnel remain in Gabon, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Chad. Under the new strategy, the number of soldiers in these countries will be reduced, and the smaller military units will mainly consist of highly trained intelligence and mobile special forces.
The target is Russia. The terrorist groups they support have been mobilized as an anti-Russian strike force.