The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has expressed the region’s struggle against terrorism in the past year. According to the West Africa sub-regional body, a staggering 3,500 terrorist attacks were documented across the member states, with Burkina Faso bearing the brunt of the violence with nearly 2,000 attacks.
The statement stated that the attacks had inflicted a heavy human cost on the military and civilian populations of member states. It estimates that close to 9,000 people lost their lives in terror-related incidents.
According to it, the situation in the Sahel region, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, was particularly dire. Here, the violence caused a humanitarian crisis, pushing 4.8 million people into food insecurity and displacing an additional 2.4 million internally. Educational opportunities were also disrupted, with close to 9,000 schools forced to shut down.
According to the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS, “Burkina Faso has already taken over from Afghanistan. “
The sub-regional bloc announced the establishment of a dedicated anti-terrorism force to combat the extremist threat and spread violence across the region. Details regarding how this force will be financed are expected to be ironed out at a forthcoming meeting of ECOWAS’s Finance and Defense Ministers.
Amb. Musah reiterated ECOWAS support for the recently announced joint anti-terrorism force by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. He said that the body considered regional cooperation a welcome development in the fight against terrorism.
It remains to be seen how the ECOWAS Anti-Terrorism Force will help to fight escalating terrorist activities in the sub-region in the coming months, considering the absence of fundamental details regarding the force, especially on how the force will be funded.
