In the month under review, West Africa Lake

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3 1.0 INTRODUCTION In response to the challenges of terrorism West Africa is facing, ECOWAS developed the Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Implementation Plan as a means of countering terrorist activities in the region as well as putting in place large-scale measures against terrorism. 2.0 OVERVIEW FOR THE MONTH In the month under review, West Africa Lake Chad Basin and Sahel region witnessed varying degrees of coordinated attacks from the insurgents operating across the areas. The most recent and prominent one was the attack in Mali on Tuaregs tribe by suspected insurgent linked to al-qaeda. This led to the death of 30 Tuareg civilians. To keep track of acts of insurgency as they relate to ECOWAS countries, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) created the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Strategy Tracker (ECTS-Tracker). The tracker is an open data platform that provides practical analysis of operational policy framework for ECOW- AS counter-terrorism, actions, supports, and serves as a knowledge base that promotes a common regional approach for counterterrorism by both state and non-state actors. This is done through the documentation and analysis of cases, activities, and incidences of extremist violence across the West African sub-region. The tracker examines locations, trends, and patterns of incidences of violent extremism within the West Africa and Sahel regions. The ECTS-tracker also serves as a tool for monitoring the efforts of states in implementing the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CTS). 1

4 Also, the Boko Haram insurgents also attacked Judumri community in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in Nigeria. The Nigerian Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, insisted that Boko Haram insurgents had been defeated as Nigerian Army launched a new operation, Operation Last Hold aimed at total destruction of insurgent enclaves. The United State military officials Lieutenant-Colonel Sean McClure urged Nigeria Armed Force to change their strategy in order to overcome an evolving guerrilla threat. The month also witnessed an attack in Northern Burkina Faso that led to the death of Hamidou Koundaba, the mayor of Koutougou commune, in Burkina Faso s northern province of Soum. The G5 Sahel West Africa countries hosted internal security workshop in Niger aimed to improved synergies, cooperation and exchange experiences in other to combat rising cases of terrorism, drugs and arms smuggling, trafficking in humans and irregular migration within the region. Also, in April 2018, the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) once again accused Cameroon of forcibly repatriating 385 Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers since January Although, Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon s far northern region denied this allegation by the UNHCR against the country. Niger 3.O KEY DEVELOPMENTS As part of the G5 Sahel countries efforts in countering insurgencies in the region, the G5 Secretariat, chaired by Ahamadou Issoufou, the President of Niger, organised a 3-day internal security workshop. The workshop aimed at improving synergies, cooperation and exchange experiences among the G5 Sahel countries internal security force, which includes terrorism, drugs and arms smuggling, human trafficking and irregular migration. The participants at the meeting comprised of top members from the police, gendarmerie, the National Guard of the G5 countries and international partners such as European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP) in Sahel Niger, the Dutch Government, United Nations office on drugs and crime (UNODC), International Police(INTERPOL) and All the GS countries were in attendance. The Nigerian government disclosed that its military had apprehended Doundou Chefou, insurgent leader belonging to The Islamic State Greater Sahara Force (ISIS), suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of an American aid worker. Doundou Chefou was believed to be the insurgent being pursued by the Four United States Special Forces in the town of Tongo Tongo in Niger on October 2017, before the ISIS ambushed them. 2

5 Nigeria experiences from their engagement in the Middle East with Nigeria and other countries in the Sahel that are fighting extremist groups. This, according to him, will prepare Nigeria and other countries in combating a host of radical insurgent groups which include Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali and Boko Haram in Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad area. In the period under focus, an African security summit was held in Abuja on the 18th of April In attendance was Lieutenant-Colonel Sean McClure who was representing the United States military defence attached to Nigeria. Percentage of Suicide Bombings carried out by sexes in North-Eastern Nigeria Number of Deaths and Injury recorded from Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria Source: CDD, April 2018 Source: CDD, April 2018 The military defence attaché advised that Nigeria forces combating insurgent need to redirect their strategies from conventional warfare in response to evolving guerrilla tactics by Boko Haram insurgents. This change is imperative in the face of changing tactics, which can be seen as disguised insurgents detonate explosive devices within the communities. He also stated that the United States had step up its military presence in Africa with a motive to share Despite the US advice to Nigeria s military forces to change its modus operandi in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents, the Nigerian Army insisted that the military has defeated the Boko Haram insurgents. During a press conference organised by the United States Mission to wrap up the African Land Forces Summit, for 2018, the Chief of Army Staff maintained his stand that the military has won the war. He also mentioned that they are on top of the game and added that the isolated cases of suicide bombing and assault experienced in the North East are mere propaganda. Again, there is an ongoing plan to reintegrate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back into their communities. 3

6 The Nigeria Army launched a new operation Operation Last Hold on 20 April 2018, which will last for four months and the operation entails the deployment of six additional manoeuvre brigades and other critical assets to North East Nigeria aimed at destroying the remnants Boko Haram members. Also, the military had embarked on various clearance operations, involving both land and area bombardment. Multiple operations executed by Nigeria Military in countering Boko Haram insurgents within the Northeast according to CDD estimates resulted in the death of 46 insurgents, arrest of seven insurgents, and the rescue of 33 civilians. Mali Mali is a country in the Sahel region of West Africa and is part of the G5 Sahel with a mandate to combat Cross-Border terrorism, transnational organised crime and human trafficking. The country has been confronted with assaults from various insurgent groups such as Ansar Dine, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. A group linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has vowed to destabilise the Sahel region and attack France. This group implemented Sharia law in towns captured during the 2012 uprising, including the ancient city of Timbuktu and Macina. Source: CDD, April 2018 The country also battled with the Liberation Front (FLM) insurgent sect linked to Ansar Dine, and the Al-Mourabitoun insurgent sect led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a prominent jihadist in Algeria North Africa. Finally, the Boko Haram insurgents linked to Islamic State (ISIS) and based in the Lake Chad Basin have also been receiving training and weapons from insurgents in Northern Mali. In a bid to mitigate insurgents onslaught in Mali, France s Barkhane force led operation alongside troops from Mali, Niger and a local militia in a combined reconnaissance mission and control operation 90 km (56 miles) south of Menaka in Akabar Mali on the 1st of April The troop neutralised 30 Islamist insurgents during a gun-battle confrontation in the Sahel region near the border with Niger. 4

7 Several Malian soldiers lost their lives during the battle, while French troops recorded no casualty. Also, the Malian Army killed 14 suspected Islamist insurgents while attempting a jailbreak. The suspect was arrested and detained on 5th April 2018, by the military in the country s central west region. By CDD estimates within this period, numerous operations carried out by The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), led to the death of 84 insurgents. Chad is part of the of the G5 Sahel and the multi-national joint task force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, whose mandate is to combat Cross-Border terrorism, transnational organised crime and human trafficking. The Lake Chad region of the country bordering Nigeria suffered an assault from suspected Boko Haram insurgent on the 15th of April 2018 where 3 Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) soldiers in Arge, were killed. The three soldiers were given a posthumous award by the Chadian army and were buried at the N Djamena military cemetery. Cameroon Boko Haram insurgents operating in Cameroon are striving to establish Islamic State and create the Islamic caliphate across the Lake Chad Basin region, but Lake Chad Basin multi-national joint task force led by the Nigeria military is resisting the imposition. Cameroon also hosts several Nigerians refugees as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) within its territory, who were forced to flee their home due to persistent insurgency crisis within the Lake Chad Basin region. In this period, Cameroon denied the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report on an allegation of forcibly repatriating close to 400 Nigerian refugees and asylum-seekers since January from its country. Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon s far northern district sharing a border with Nigeria, stated that Cameroon had complied with the agreements made with Nigeria and the refugee agency regarding voluntary repatriation of Nigerian refugees. He said that the Cameroonian government had given assurance about the refugees safety until Nigeria is willing to repatriate them from Cameroon. 5

8 Percentage of deaths and Injured recorded among soldiers in Cameroon Source: CDD, April 2018 He added that refugees who had settled outside their camp at Minawao, most especially in the Logone and Chari administrative unit that is prone to Boko Haram assaults, had to be relocated to safer locations where they could receive humanitarian assistance from the United Nations, the government of Cameroon, and well-wishers. The country also lost five of its soldiers to Boko Haram s assault, while three soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries at Sagme village close to the Nigerian border and the Lake Chad region. Until April 2015, Burkina Faso was relatively safe from insurgents since that event where insurgents abducted a Romanian mining company worker and killed a security officer working in the northern part of the country. The country had been fighting cross-border insurgents either affiliated with al-qaeda or the Islamic State (ISIS) operating mostly from Mali such as Al-Mourabitoun group of Moktar, Belmokar and the Macina Liberation Front of Amodoun Kouffa. Within this period, the country lost Hamidou Koundaba, the mayor of Koutougou commune, in Burkina Faso s Northern Province of Soum, to an unidentified gun assailant who murders the mayor in front of his house and fled immediately. Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the president of Burkina Faso, condemned the attack as a despicable act and offered his condolences to the family of the deceased. 6

9 4.0 PATTERNS OF ATTACK Within the period under review, radical insurgents unleashed numerous assaults within countries across the West Africa Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin region. In Nigeria, Boko Haram insurgents changed modus operandi by deploying a large number of foot soldiers as a decoy to pave the way for the suicide bombers to penetrate into communities and detonate bombs, While in response The Nigeria Military repelled numerous insurgent attacks. In total, 55 civilians were killed and 107 sustained various degrees of injuries, and two soldiers lost their lives. A significant attack recorded in Mali was the assault on Aklaz and Awakassa which led to the killing of 30 Tuareg civilians while another one at Anderamboukane led to the death of 12 civilians. UN peacekeepers came under attack in North-Eastern Mali which led to the murder of 3 peacekeepers while 10 sustained various degrees of injuries. In total, there are 42 civilians dead; three UN soldiers killed, an undisclosed number of Malian soldiers also died. Other assaults across the West Africa and Sahel region, by CDD estimates resulted in the death of three soldiers in Chad, five in Cameroon, while 3 sustained various degrees of injuries, In Burkina-Faso, Hamidou Koundaba, a mayor in Northern Province of Soum of Burkina-Faso was killed by unidentified gunmen. 5.0 MEANS OF ATTACK In April 2018, insurgents in the Sahel and Lake Chad in the West African Sub-region, made use of mostly foot soldiers and also leveraged on Soft Attack tactics in perpetrating various assaults in communities and security operative formations. The insurgents made use of Vehicle-borne loaded with explosive devices in Nigeria and motorbikes in the town of Anderamboukane in Mali. Other styles of attacks by the Boko Harams including the use of Improvised Explosive Devices strapped to the bodies of suicide bombers targeting residential, public space and refugee camps and military formations before detonation. 7

10 This period, sixteen (16) suicide-bombing cases were recorded; Nine (9) were Female while Seven (7) were Male. 6.0 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE/ DETAINED INSURGENTS In this period, Amnesty International alleged that Malian military perpetuated extra-judicial killing in their effort to stop extremists from unleashing further attacks in the West African nation. The humanitarian organisation based in London reported a discovery of six bodies in a mass grave in Dogo village in central Mali. Community members identified these bodies as people who had been arrested by the Malian military on March 22, A similar incident was reported on February 21, 2018, in Daresalam, Mali where military forces arbitrarily arrested and blindfolded nine men. Only Two men from the Bambara ethnic group were released while the where about of seven men from Peulh ethnic group is unknown. The United Nations mission in Mali previously reported extrajudicial killing were at least 43 people were arrested and taken to an unknown destination by Malian security forces during anti-extremist operations between May and June in The Presidential Committee on Special Detainees related to Boko Haram Insurgency, set up by the Nigerian government in December 2016 to profile and categorise the Boko Haram detainees in the various detention prisons across Nigeria, submitted a 47-page report to Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The report contained profiles and categorisation of detainees related to insurgent in Nigeria. It indicated that 6,512 detainees, including toddlers between ages of 1 to 3 are in detention and some of them had spent up to nine years awaiting trial. The committee called for justice for suspects who might be innocent and illegally detained. 7.0 MILITARY RESPONSE Nigeria Army responded to the allegation from The United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF), by declaring three of UNICEF staff s persona non grata in North East Nigeria. Priscilla Hoveyda, Maher Farea and Milen Kidane who are child protection specialists with UNICEF were declared persona non grata due to the allegation raised by them against the military. They claimed that the Nigeria Military raped over 20 girls in IDP camps in Borno State, made use of child soldiers below 18 Years in the ongoing war against Boko Haram insurgents and that young boys detained in Giwa Barracks were being used as cooks, messengers and porters by the military. The military referred to these allegations as false and targeted to malign Nigeria and tarnish the right image of the military. 8.0 COURT CASES The International Criminal Court (ICC), in a statement released in Bamako Mali on 1st April 2018, disclosed that Malian authorities have handed over Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, insurgent leaders for prosecution on war crimes charges. He was accused on both religious and gender grounds which includes rape and sexual slavery through forced marriages. It was when the Insurgents were in control of Timbuktu that they imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic Shariah law before the French-led military operation in 2013, forced Al Hassan and others out of power and control of Timbuktu. 8

11 9.0 PEACEKEEPING The United States special operations command in Africa launched an annual Flintlock counterterrorism exercise in Niger; precisely six months after the country lost four of its special force which raised a lot of concern. The Flintlock exercise which includes 1,900 service members from 20 African and western nations, aimed at combating multiple extremists who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and al-qaeda, including Boko Haram groups rampaging the region ABDUCTED/RESCUED CIVILIANS In this period, Mohamed Malick Fall, the UNICEF representative in Nigeria, disclosed that Boko Haram insurgents since 2013, has kidnapped more than 1,000 children. He stated this during the preparation of the fourth anniversary of the abduction of 276 Chibok town school girls by the Boko Haram insurgents in 2014, 163 girls were released through negotiation that reportedly involved payment of ransom money. These people travelled by crossings on foot and in light vehicles through an unofficial and unsecured border from Mali to Burkina Faso. Cameroon once again was accused by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of forceful repatriation of 385 Nigeria refugees and asylum-seekers from Cameroon back into the conflict zone in Borno state, Nigeria. The first batch of 160 Nigerians who had been seeking refuge in Cameroon s Waza district since 2014, were forcibly repatriated on the 10th of April, 2018 while subsequently, 118 asylum-seekers who had arrived in Cameroon only two days earlier, due to recent increase of assaults by Boko Haram insurgents were forcibly repatriated on the 17th April health CHALLENGES In this period under review, The United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) during a five-day Nutrition Emergency Training on 22nd April 2018 in Maiduguri warned Nigeria government on the risk of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). They disclosed that 88,000 children with various health challenges are at risk of death in the region INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS/ REFUGEES Conflict such as communal violence and insurgency has displaced numerous individual both internally and as refugees in other countries across West Africa. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Burkina Faso disclosed that 3000 fled from Mali to Burkina Faso in April 2018 due to clashes between the Dogon and Peul communities and other adjunct crises. The latest figure released as a result of fear of kidnapping and murder includes 2000 Malians and 1,000 Burkinabe. 9

12 UNICEF also revealed that about one million children between the ages of 6 and 59 months in the three States of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe affected by insurgency are also acutely malnourished. In the same vein, UNICEF lamented that 230,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are also severely malnourished in the region CHIBOK During the period in view, parents of the abducted Chibok school girls engaged in a fatal accident along Song-Yola road in Adamawa, North-east Nigeria due to an ongoing road rehabilitation project. One of the parents, Yakubu Yerima, died on the spot and 17 others were fatally injured, while they were on their way to visit their daughters and also attend a PTA meeting at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) Academy in Yola. Since 2014 when the abduction took place in Chibok, over 20 of the parents have died economic challenges In this period, another report funded by Reuter s news agencies was released quoting the Nigerian livestock farmers extensively around the territories controlled by insurgents across the Lake Chad Basin region. The report disclosed that Al-Barnawi faction of Boko Haram Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) are controlling swathes of land that stretched over 160 kilometres (100 miles) into Borno and Yobe States in Nigeria. The insurgents were currently running quasi-administrative policies. These include impositions of taxes on herders, drivers and traders in the area. The levy ranges from N2, 500 per cow, N1, 500 for smaller animals, also running of slaughterhouses for the cattle and taking a cut for each animal, as well as from other activities like gathering firewood. Civilians who abide by the rules and regulations governing the territory, are not harmed by the insurgents education The Boko Haram insurgency war against Western education and the sect targeting the University of Maiduguri in its campaign over the years had led to the death of several students and University lecturers in the past nine years. Under 2018/2019 academic session, over 36,000 students applied to be admitted into the institution despite challenges of insecurity. 10

13 16.0 logistics Insurgents across the West Africa Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel region, utilised Vehicle-borne loaded with explosive devices, motorbikes, cars and foot in perpetrating various assault in this period. conclusion Insurgents operating within various locations in West Africa are gaining strength despite deployment of thousands of Western and United Nations troops in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin region. Al-Barnawi Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria are now building an economic war chest, by running quasi-administrative policies that include the imposition of taxes on civilians in the territories they control. Cameroon government promised to uphold the agreement made with Nigeria government and refugee agencies regarding voluntary repatriation of Nigerians seeking refuge in Cameroon. While Chadian army honoured three fallen soldiers with a posthumous award, they were killed in combat during a raid at Arge, Lake Chad region of the country border with Nigeria. references i Dozens of Tuareg killed on Mali-Niger border; 100 arrested, explosives seized in Burkina Faso. 28, April 2018, com/2018/04/28/tuareg-killed-mali-niger-border-burkina-faso-explosives-arrests/ ii Four Killed, Many Injured in Boko Haram Attack in Maiduguri. 27 April 2018, iii UN troops killed in Mali after French claim 60 IS fighters deaths. 06 April 2018, iv Boko Haram kills three Chadian soldiers.18 April vanguardngr.com/2018/04/boko-haram-kills-three-chadian-soldiers/ v Opt-cit 18 April vi Koutougou commune mayor gunned down.9 April 2018, vii Four Killed, Many Injured in Boko Haram Attack in Maiduguri. 27 April 2018, viii Suspected jihadists kill over 30 Tuaregs in Mali. 28 April 2018, ix. The terror group is turning communities against refugees, and victims into suspects. 18 Apr 2018, x xi 6,512 Boko Haram detainees, toddlers in custody, says panel. 26 April 2018, xii Nigerian Army declares three UNICEF staff persona non grata. 27 April 2018, xiii xiv US military opens annual counterterrorism training in Niger , xv UN says Boko Haram has kidnapped more than 1000 girls since April xvi Thousands Flee as Inter-Communal Violence Heats up. 18 April 2018, xvii UNHCR Alarmed By Continuing Forced Returns of Nigerians By Cameroon. 20 April 2018, html xviii 88,000 Children At Risk of Death in Northeast Unicef. 22 April 2018, xix One dead, 17 injured in the accident involving Chibok Girls parents. 23 April 2018, xx UNIMAID records high enrollment despite Boko Haram VC. 24 April 2018, nnorth-east/ unimaid-records-high-enrollment-despite-boko-haramvc.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter xxi Boko Haram Now Collecting Taxes from Nigerians in Borno, Yobe Report. 30 April 2018, html 11

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