Ismail Sharki: “Over 6000 ISIS Extremists May Return To Africa”

Africa Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ismael Sharki, warned that some 6,000 African extremists, who fought in the ranks of ISIS, could return to the continent, calling on African countries to prepare “strong” plans to deal with this problem.

In his speech at the opening of the high-level forum on “Effective and sustainable responses to counter-terrorism: A regional approach”, which was held on Sunday in Oran (western Algeria), Sharki said, “Reports speak of 6,000 Africans of the 30,000 foreign fighters who were estimated to join this Middle East terrorist organization”.

“The return of this group to Africa poses a serious threat to security and stability, which requires a special approach and close cooperation between African countries”.

“We must be aware of the repercussions and global developments on the security of our continent, especially as the defeat of the so-called terrorist organization is called in the Middle East, Africa is witnessing an increasing presence of its fighters in the Sahel region and beyond it”.

In this regard he explained;”The return of these elements to our continent, which have serious effects on national security, requires closer treatment and cooperation between the countries of our continent at all levels”, highlighting the need to intensify coordination and exchange of information and improving the knowledge of the categories of foreign fighters and the disclosure of their movements and to strengthen border management in general.

“We must acknowledge the serious gaps that exist in the implementation of the counter-terrorism framework despite the progress that is made in the field”.

“In response to facing the renewed terrorist threats, there is an urgent need to address these gaps, especially in criminal justice systems, and the outdated legislation and limited capacity of courts and law enforcement agencies”.

On this basis, he called for making more efforts to transform commitments into action by working to consolidate, strengthen and activate various counter-terrorism strategies at the national, regional and continental levels, such as information exchange, cooperation and intelligence coordination to ensure law enforcement under the criminal justice system.

He also urged the provision of viable economic alternatives, the opening of political participation and the involvement of civil society in order to counter all attempts to inculcate extremist and violent fanaticism and invest in social and cultural resilience.

The African Commissioner for Peace and Security praised the firm support of Algeria for joint African action and its continuous contribution to all African Union members to rid the continent of the scourge of terrorism and organized crime. 

“This commitment also reflects Algeria’s hosting of important African institutions such as the African Center for Research and Studies on Terrorism and the African Union Police Cooperation Mechanism (AFRIPOL).