The commander of U.S. forces in Africa sees a new trend in terrorist expansion in the vast Sahel region, saying what once was a raging forest fire of extremist activity has slowed.
Al Qaeda and ISIS affiliates have long been present in the uncontrolled space south of the Sahara, gaining territory and increasing attacks on local militaries, all within striking distance of Europe. The United States has provided logistical and intelligence support to the lead foreign military in the region, France. But with the death of Chad’s longtime president on the front lines and a year-old coup in Mali still prohibiting some U.S. support, uncertainty is rising again as terrorists look for an opportunity to advance.
“For once, I would like to get ahead of the house being on fire,” Stephen Townsend, the AFRICOM commander general, told the Washington Examiner after a recent closed session of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“You got this forest fire coming, firebreak that, and then start doing fire prevention in the littoral states by doing some things to get ahead of the threat,” he said of terrorist groups attempting to advance into the economically prosperous West African coastal states.
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Townsend has at his disposal some 6,000 U.S. soldiers, mainly special operators, who are operating in support of African militaries. They train, do advise and assist missions, and share intelligence with capable local forces and Europeans in the theater.
The limited effort has only been enough to slow the spread of terrorism across Africa, he said.
“I don’t think our government views the terrorist situation in the Sahel as America’s to solve,” Townsend said. “So, I have not been tasked to defeat terrorists in the Sahel.”
He added: “Almost all of Europe is represented in the Sahel in some way, shape, form, or fashion. We support them and their efforts.”
France has some 5,200 troops in the Sahel and has relied on U.S. logistical and intelligence support, such as when it killed an al Qaeda leader last summer.
But as President Joe Biden looks to stop the growth of terrorist safe havens across the globe, Townsend is calling for attention to a raging fire in West Africa.
“The burning embers are dancing on the roofs of the littoral states, but they haven’t caught fire yet,” he said.
ISR cuts hurt partner support
In 20 months, Townsend said his understanding of the Sahel terrorist threat has “morphed” from an uncontrollable fire to a slowly advancing burn that can still be checked with targeted, low-cost, high-impact actions.
“Quite honestly, it has not advanced as fast as I feared it was when I first started watching,” he said. “I thought it was moving very fast. It has slowed.”
The four-star Army general attributed the change to aggressive action by the French and the addition of special operator training units from 10 European nations who advise, assist, and accompany partner nations hunting terrorists.
An increasing European lead and a U.S. pullback had been advocated by former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who trimmed some of AFRICOM’s budget and personnel.
Some of the cuts hindered intelligence products provided to partner nations, Townsend told lawmakers last week. That capability could be returned and contracted privately to help the cause of stemming the growth of terrorist groups in Africa.
“There’s no activity that America conducts unilaterally in the lead for,” Townsend told SASC Thursday. “So, building partner capacity is how we help the Africans and our international partners the most.”
Townsend said Esper’s “blank slate review” budget cuts reduced money for joint exercises with African militaries, and the elimination of the overseas contingency operations, or OCO, budget will mean less ISR to help partners.
The renewed U.S. look at the terrorism threat in Africa could make a big impact, said Estonian naval Capt. Sten Sepper.
“It could be a game changer,” said Sepper, who served in Africa and is now Estonia’s defense attache in Washington, D.C.
Often, he said special operations forces are sent out on missions with limited intelligence, hindering their operational picture and effectiveness finding terrorists.
“It’s a waste of money and time,” he said. “The area is huge.”
Townsend said the Europeans are the reason why the terrorism spread from the Sahel has slowed.
“The French effort have done a better effort in bringing the international community together in a more coherent, synchronized way,” he said, praising the French Task Force Saber and the European Task Force Takuba, which includes Estonia.
“We still need to build a firebreak across the Sahel,” he said. “When I say ‘we,’ I’m talking about the international effort, and the U.S. needs to help with that.”
The general is not calling for special forces to be sent in to attack the terrorist threat but rather for trainers to prepare African militaries in the littoral states.
One way is through a special Army unit called Security Force Assistance Brigades, which have trained African militaries from Senegal to Djibouti on everything from basic vehicle maintenance to first aid and hydration in the desert.
“Another one would be, and you might wonder what’s this got to do with the flames of jihad coming from the north, but, help them with maritime domain awareness,” he said.
Townsend explained that West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea is one of the top areas for piracy in the world.
It is also a known transit point for South American cocaine en route to Europe that has corrupted local governments and armed forces in recent years and spread drug use and addiction to locals who receive payment in kind.
“If they don’t have radar, they don’t control their territorial waters,” Sepper said Monday.
Sepper, who served in Africa, has been monitoring the progress of Estonia’s 100 troops in the Sahel under French-led Operation Barkhane.
“If we don’t treat the threat locally, quite soon, it will be in our mainland,” he said.
Human traffickers are making big money moving refugees through Libya into the European continent, and some could be terrorists.
For now, Sepper said the Europeans are doing “train the trainers” missions to better equip local militaries, and the presence is helping.
“Extremists are avoiding the military personnel,” he said of the effectiveness of the training effort. “It takes a very long time.”
Deby’s death
Townsend refrained from answering a question from senators about the future force posture in Africa, deferring to the civilian-led DOD process expected to conclude by midsummer. He also leans on diplomats closely monitoring the delicate situation in Chad, where President Idriss Deby was killed fighting rebels on the front line a week ago, and his son was named by the army to replace him.
The break in constitutional order may be problematic for U.S. cooperation with a strong security partner in the Sahel.
“The Chadians had been a security exporter,” Townsend said. “They’ve been able to keep not only the security situation in their country fairly stable but also to go help others do that as well.”
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A similar disruption occurred in Mali last August, when a coup halted American military cooperation. Townsend said he hoped scheduled elections in Mali will put the country back on a democratic footing and restore full cooperation with the U.S. in a comment that encapsulates the multifaceted challenges facing U.S. counterterrorism operations on the continent.
“It’s been a friction-fraught relationship, but we’ve been working together,” he said. “I hope when we can continue to work on areas of mutual concern against the terrorists, but this change in government, it’ll depend on how our government assesses that, and we haven’t assessed it yet.”
