Niger’s toppled government had offered rare hope in the Sahel that it could beat the jihadists
OHAMED BAZOUM, Niger’s president, was under no illusions. He understood how coups in two of his neighbouring countries, Burkina Faso and Mali, had undermined their fight against the jihadists running rampant across much of the Sahel. Military rule weakens the army, deprives it of international military assistance and saps the state’s ability to deal with jihadist violence, he toldin May. “The whole bet for us is...
Worryingly, jihadists seem to be winning the war in the Sahel almost everywhere but in Niger. Last year the death toll in the region increased by 75%, to more than 10,000. This year looks as if it will be bloodier still . The militants are also spilling over borders and threatening west Africa’s wealthier and more densely populated coastal states, such as Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo.
The situation is also grim in Burkina Faso. After two coups last year, its new military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, declared “total war” on jihadists, but to no avail. Burkina Faso accounts for more than two-thirds of jihadist-related deaths in the central Sahel this year. Around 2m people have fled their homes and 26 towns are blockaded by jihadists. The government controls as little as 40% of the country. “We can perhaps speak now about a failed state,” says a French military official.
The reason Niger is exceptional is largely because Mr Bazoum had taken a radically different approach to fighting the jihadists. His strategy involved improving government services, talking with the terrorists and making extensive use of Western military help. To understand why this strategy appears to have worked, listen to jihadists themselves. Asked why he joined a radical group, Boubacar Moussa does not mention religion. Instead, he stresses more Earthly motives.
The deal was tacitly approved by Islamic State Sahel , one of the two biggest jihadist groups in the region, which sent emissaries to the pact’s signing and met the minister of interior, says a mediator.
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