Africa’s Sahel region has become a hot spot for violent extremism, but the joint force set up in 2014 to combat groups linked to the Islamic State, al-Qaida and others has failed to stop their inroads, and a senior UN official warned Tuesday that without greater international support and regional cooperation the instability will expand toward West African coastal countries.
“Resolute advances in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime in the Sahel desperately need to be made,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee told a UN Security Council meeting.
