This week, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) published a pair of new reports,
Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western Sahel Region and Status Of ISWAP And
ISGS In West Africa And Sahel. These reports are the first of a range policy
papers produced as part of a year-long joint project with the Konrad Adenauer
Stiftung (KAS). This project focuses on the various elements of instability in
this region.





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New CEP Reports Examine Development of Al-Qaeda, ISIS Affiliates In West
Africa And Sahel



(New York, N.Y.) — This week, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) published a
pair of new reports,Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western Sahel Region
<[link removed]>
andStatus Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa And Sahel
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.These reports are the first of a range policy papers produced as part of a
year-long joint project with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). This project
focuses on the various elements of instability in this region. These first two
papers explore how Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a coalition of
various al-Qaeda affiliates in West Africa, and regional ISIS affiliates,
Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Islamic State in Great Sahel
(ISGS), have developed operationally in the region in recent years.



In the first paper, Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western Sahel Region, CEP
Advisory Board memberAmbassador Edmund Fitton-Brown
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director of the Timbuktu Institute-African Center for Peace Studies, analyze
the structure of JNIM, how it is financed, and how its various groups operate
jointly. The paper also identifies potential challenges that may arise from
expanded JNIM activity from Mali and Burkina Faso as the group expands
southward into the countries surrounding the Gulf of Guinea.



The authors propose several counterterrorism strategies that prioritize
locally-led conflict resolution solutions with support from the international
community and the United Nations. Combined with conflict resolution measures
and development goals, their country-specific recommendations may effectively
address JNIM’s expanding influence in the region and the growth of local
insurgencies that threaten stability of national governments.



In the second paper, Status Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa And Sahel,
authors Pieter Van Ostaeyen along with Kwesi Aning, professor and director of
faculty of academic affairs and research at the Kofi Annan International
Peacekeeping Training Centre, explore the origins of the two most prominent
Islamic State-affiliated extremist groups in the Sahel, ISWAP and ISGS, as well
as their implementation of Islamic laws and exploitation of local communities.



The paper identifies the extremist groups’ harsh implementation of takfiri
doctrines, which are theological declarations denoting any Muslim who does not
adhere to a strict interpretation of Islamic law as an ‘apostate’ who should
therefore be killed. This strict interpretation of Islamic law as well as ISGS
and ISWAP’s collection of the zakat, a tax that typically amounts to 10 percent
of an individual’s income, places both extremist groups in a position of power
and wealth in communities throughout the region. The authors recommend that
policymakers support local stakeholders that contribute to community
resilience, initiate security sector governance and reform measures, and
establish border security cooperation councils, among other recommendations.



To read Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western Sahel Region, please click here
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.



To read Status Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa And Sahel, please click here
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