Africa has become the main target of the terrorist group Daesh, suffering 41% of all its attacks worldwide, said Wednesday in Marrakech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans living abroad , Nasser Bourita.
“Daesh holds the infamous record of becoming the deadliest terrorist group in the world in 2021. Africa, meanwhile, has become its main target, suffering 41% of all Daesh attacks worldwide”said the Minister at the opening of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh.
The Minister observed, on this occasion, that compared to the pre-pandemic period, violence has increased on the Continent by 40 to 60% in terms of deaths and attacks.
In 2021, he noted, sub-Saharan Africa recorded 48% of deaths due to terrorism in the world, or 3,461 victims, bringing the death toll to 30,000 over the past 15 years.
The Minister further pointed out that the Sahel is home to the fastest growing and most casualty terrorist groups in the world, noting that the Sahel region accounts for 35% of deaths due to terrorism in the world. world in 2021, against only 1% in 2007.
“The number of deaths due to terrorism increased by more than 1,000% between 2007 and 2021 in the Sahel”lamented the Minister, noting that West Africa and the Sahel are the most affected regions of the continent, with more than 1.4 million internally displaced people due to deadly clashes in this region. part of the world.
Nasser Bourita also noted that over the past decade, the economic impact of terrorism has cost the continent a total loss of 171 billion dollars, an amount that could have been used to promote the economic and social development of the region. .
“Today, 27 terrorist entities based in Africa are on the United Nations Security Council sanctions list”he continued, pointing out that this is a clear indicator of their links with the world’s main terrorist groups.
The terrorist threat in Africa has now reached the Atlantic coasts and its sea lanes, warned Nasser Bourita, saying that links between terrorism and piracy have appeared in the Gulf of Guinea, as in the Horn of the Africa and that terrorist groups also seek to control natural resources.
