31/08/2025
The Sahel?s descent into extremism and global counterterrorism failure
The Sahel, a vast belt of land stretching across Africa just south of the Sahara, has in recent years become the epicenter of global terrorism. In 2024 alone, the region accounted for 51 percent of worldwide terrorism-related fatalities, amounting to nearly 4,000 deaths in that year and a staggering 20,000 since 2019. This explosive rise is not the product of isolated insurgencies but rather the culmination of collapsed security frameworks, predatory foreign involvement, and the professionalization of militant groups that have learned to exploit the region?s vulnerabilities. Eighteen years ago, the Sahel accounted for just 1 percent of global terrorism fatalities. Today, it has become a...
