The president is committed to anticipating the threat, also promoting the development of the border area
MADRID, 8 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, has opted for the policy of anticipation after seeing how in recent years the jihadist threat has been spreading from Mali to other countries in the region and for this he has proceeded to reinforce the military presence in the east of the country, in addition to promoting basic services such as education and health.
Although to date the country has not registered any attacks, in a report published in February 2021, the UN warned that elements of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Sahel, already they were “implanted in Senegal”. In addition, around a hundred Senegalese have left the country to join different terrorist groups since 2012.
In 2021, four people were also arrested near the border related to Katiba Macina, one of the organizations that make up JNIM. The Al Qaeda affiliate has recently increased its presence and activity in the province of Kayes, on the border with Senegal.
In these circumstances, Sall proceeded to inaugurate on December 27 a new military base in Goudiry, in the Tambacounda region, bordering Mali. The president explained that the new facilities are part of his vision of modernizing the country’s defense to “place it at the height of the growing complexity of security threats.”
Given the constant threats to the stability of the countries, he claimed, “it is up to us to anticipate and above all to ensure the preservation of an environment of peace and security, the only guarantee of the tranquility necessary for the economic and social development of our country.”
The Goudiry base, where the fourth infantry battalion will be installed, “will give more coherence to the security device in the border area,” stressed Sall, placing special emphasis on the efforts of the Armed Forces to “adapt to the evolution of the regional strategic context and better respond to the needs of the population in terms of security”.
The choice of the location of the base, justified the president, has not been “fortuitous” but has been done precisely because of the importance of this city, since the train and the national highway that connects the region with the border converge there. malian. In addition, an institute has recently been inaugurated and the first stone of a health center has also been laid.
Senegal, as explained by the regional director of the Timbuktu Institute, Bakary Sambe, to the DW radio station, has opted for a mixed “strategy” that involves, on the one hand, reinforcing security and on the other, “working on development” through construction of infrastructures and the supply of services in an area where the population had felt marginalized by Dakar until now.
With this, he emphasizes, it contributes “to the resilience of local communities” in the face of jihadist groups while denying them coverage by the local population. “The countries bordering Mali must take precautions to prevent terrorist groups from taking advantage of the fragile security environment, isolation and territorial marginalization to be able to operate in them,” warns Sambe, who also draws attention to the need to also bet for prevention and not only for the fight against terrorism.
According to a study published at the end of 2021 by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Center for Higher Defense and Security Studies (CHEDS) of Senegal, since gold mines are one of the sources of financing for jihadists in the Sahel, the Kédougou and Tambacounda regions would be “vulnerable”.
Both border regions with Mali – whose security the new military base will take care of – are the main gold producers in the country. In the case of Kédougou, it is home to 98% of the gold exploitation points identified in the country, while the remaining 2% are in Tambacounda.
The report draws attention to the fact that a whole series of circumstances exist in these regions that the jihadists have already known how to take advantage of in other areas of the Sahel to extend their influence and presence.
Goldfields “offer opportunities for violent extremist groups to generate financial resources by providing security for these sites or by mining or selling gold,” the report notes, stressing that they also “offer them the opportunity to obtain explosives and train in its use”.
The persistence of artisanal and clandestine mining and the holes in the gold trade that are found in these areas are also a factor that would facilitate the presence of jihadists, according to the report, which also highlights the “feeling of exclusion of the population, result of the socioeconomic insecurity of the area, which contrasts with the richness of its subsoil”.
The wealth generated by gold does not revert to improving the lives of the inhabitants of this part of the country, where almost 62% lived in poverty in 2021.
“Socioeconomic disparities and environmental and health impacts that could exacerbate the identified vulnerabilities must be reduced,” claim the ISS and CHEDS, who consider that this would help limit the opportunities for these groups to establish themselves in this part of the country and recruit from your population.
