Quelling Terrorism Threat in the Sahel

摘要

More joint intelligence-gathering, a crackdown on organised crime and a coordinated approach to kidnapping demands are needed to tackle AI-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) growing power, say analysts. Though the southern Sahelian branches of AQIM are estimated to have only 400-800 members, growing organised crime and commercial networks have increased their financial and political muscle, says Alain Antil, head of the sub-Saharan Africa programme at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). "Not much systematic information-exchange goes on between affected Sahelian countries... and it is not timely or coordinated," said Antil. "You cannot fight AQIM with national policies -you need at least minimum cooperation between neighbours... though this cooperation is improving, we have not yet seen positive returns from it."