Cote d’Ivoire seeks regional response to jihadist threat

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Cote d’Ivoire

Cote d’Ivoire is beefing up military deployment on its northern border and seeking stronger security ties with its neighbours as it casts a worried eye on the increasing violence in the region.

The West African state lies to the south of Mali and Burkina Faso, which are struggling with a years-long insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Over the past two years, militants have carried out several bloody cross-border attacks in Cote d’Ivoire, including a raid in Kafolo in the northeast in June 2020 that killed 14 troops.

Kafolo lies close to the Comoe National Park near the Burkina border — a vast forest of 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles) used as a bolthole by jihadists, many of whom are linked to Al-Qaeda, security sources say.

In Tengrela, a town farther west near the border with Mali, the army has set up a special forces base, and convoys of trucks are a daily sight.

"We are glad to see the special forces among us — we know that we are safe,” said Zie Coulibaly, a local driver.

"We are reassured that the troops are there, but if they could send more, we would be happier,” said Kone Zoumana, head of a cooperative of gold miners.

"Forces have been stepped up in the northern zone and the state is deploying every means to secure the northern border,” Prime Minister Patrick Achi has said.

The militant threat in the Sahel region to the north of Cote d’Ivoire first emerged in northern Mali in 2012.

Several years later, it spread to the country’s center and then to Niger and Burkina Faso.

"The terrorists’ goal is to extend their religious, cultural and economic grip as far south as possible,” said Fidele Sarassoro, chief of staff to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

The government’s policy of more boots on the ground goes in parallel with a push to strengthen security cooperation with Mali and Burkina, and beyond.

“Burkina Faso and Mali today are the epicenter of the terrorist threat, which is moving southwards towards Cote d’Ivoire. The government has every interest in working closely with those states,” said Lassina Diarra, a specialist in extremism.

Ivorian troops have already taken part in exercises with Burkinabe or Malian counterparts, and last Friday army chiefs from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to step up joint operations.

France and the United States have also pitched in.

A French-backed center to train soldiers, police and the judiciary in the fight against “terrorism” was inaugurated in June in Jacqueville near the Ivorian economic hub Abidjan.

The United States has stumped up 19.5 million U.S. dollars for a five-year program to help combat the allure of extremism for young people in border regions.