The Sahel: A Crossroads between Criminality and Terrorism Actuelles de l'Ifri, October 2012
Besides the ongoing political conundrum in Mali, it is the entire West African region, from Guinea Bissau to Mali, which is under threat of destabilization. Indeed, for many years now, terrorists and drugs traffickers have been synergizing their respective illegal activities, transforming the Sahel into a narcoterrorist zone. As a result, the Sahel has become a dangerous crossroads for drugs, crime, terrorism and insurgency.
Already vulnerable due to the porosity of its frontiers, a catastrophic humanitarian situation, tensions between Tuaregs and their respective central governments and its strategic route for cocaine trafficking, the region has become even more unstable due to the proliferation of arms. These arms have fallen into the hands of insurgent and terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) and the Unity Movement for Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)iii, especially since the fall of Qaddafi in Libya.