The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) , is a military alliance, based in Brussels with 30 European and North American countries. (credit: wikipedia commons)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
NATO has no plans to join France’s counter-terror operations in the troubled African Sahel region despite growing violence and reported activity by Russian mercenaries. Despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers, French soldiers, and other foreign troops, terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL region have increased dramatically during the past few years. Allies have expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the Sahel region. However, a top NATO official said Thursday the NATO alliance will not get involved in counter-terror operations in the Sahel.
“For now that is not a NATO operation. For now that is a discussion between France and a number of allies. So it could very well be that a number of allies will get involved in those operations, but for now I don’t foresee a NATO operation in that region.”
-Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee said during a press briefing following the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence session on January 13 in Brussels.
Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee during press conference at NATO headquarters Brussels, Belgium Jan. 13, 2022.
France’s anti-jihadist military force in the Sahel region, Operation Barkhane, which involves more 5,000 troops, will end in the first quarter of 2022, President Emmanuel Macron announced last year.
There are nearly 22,000 troops in the Sahel, but they have yet to succeed in stopping the Islamist insurgency. Terrorist-attack casualties in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have leapt five-fold since 2016 – with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019 alone as compared to some 770 three years earlier.
NATO Could Play Crucial Role in Fighting Armed Terrorist Groups in Sahel
“Many NATO members have pledged support in various ways (the US also operates a Sahelian security effort based in Niger), yet there is little in the way of collective NATO engagements. Support from NATO, whose members account for 70% of global defense spending, would hardly be unprecedented. In this millennium, NATO has trained Iraqi soldiers to increase capacity against the Taliban, and has deployed to the Gulf of Aden to counter piracy and stabilize the region, both similar in scope to potential Sahel missions. In the Sahel, they could use their comparative advantage relative to other organizations and increase the response’s robustness and efficiency.”
-Ethan Schwartz, –A Case for NATO in the Sahel-
Schwartz goes on to write that: “A crucial role for NATO could be eliminating funding to terrorist groups. NATO can employ its vast intelligence resources to identify and disrupt funding sources from abroad, while physically securing resources known to be income sources for terrorists in the Sahel. NATO’s role can expand beyond the combat domain by utilizing its vast resources and supply chains to coordinate the logistics of the international humanitarian and development response, allowing development agencies to allocate more resources to more acute development needs.”
On 12 and 13 January, the 30 Allied Chiefs of Defence met virtually at NATO headquarters in Brussels for the first of their scheduled meetings in this format in 2022. The first day of sessions focused on Military Strategic Thinking as well as military requirements and capabilities. Opening the first day of meetings, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Bauer welcomed all 30 Chiefs of Defence .
”We are at a pivotal moment for our shared security. Ahead of next month’s ministerial and the upcoming Summit, it is primordial that you, the Chiefs of Defence provided unfettered military advice to the North Atlantic Council on a multitude of topics, ranging from our current Deterrence and Defence Posture, to our future requirements in the digital era, as well as enhancing our military cooperation with Partners. Our strength as an Alliance lies not only in our cohesion and our decisiveness, but also in our ability to prepare together for the future and the unexpected”, Admiral Bauer stated.
