U.S. General Stephen Townsend, commander of AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command forces, called March 11 for Europeans to do even more in the Sahel in the fight against terrorism.
"African and European partners must do more to roll back the violent extremist organisations (VEOs) threat and there must be better synchronisation of efforts in West Africa", he said in a speech to the US House of Representatives. "The window of opportunity to dig a firebreak and prevent the further spread of VEOs is months, not years", he insisted, recalling in particular a 250% increase in acts of violence by VEOs since 2018 in Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger.
He said that despite bilateral U.S. security assistance and "generous pledges of support" from the international community coordinated by the European Union, African partners cannot effectively control their own borders or address related security and governance challenges in the region without "substantial" external assistance from their Western partners. "We encourage all approaches that will allow regional partners to be more self-sufficient", Townsend said.
The commander of AFRICOM paid tribute to France, which is making "a significant contribution to this African-led effort" with more than 4,400 troops deployed in Operation Barkhane. He also welcomed French and German plans to develop new structures "to improve coordination, synchronisation and effectiveness of international assistance, and improve African partner fighting capabilities".
On West Africa, the US General stressed the importance of EU funding to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISON), amounting to more than €200 million per year, stressing that it was essential that this mission should continue fighting, as the Somali National Army needed more time and international support before it could counter al-Shabaab on its own.
In general, Gen. Townsend said that, across the African continent, "violent extremist networks are expanding in Africa at a rapid pace, due in large part to weak governance and disenfranchised populations while employing violence to exacerbate despair and hopelessness". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)