The annual counter-terrorism training program for African soldiers began in Ivory Coast on Sunday, at a time when Islamist fighters dominate significant territories, coups are on the increase, and French forces are withdrawing.
The Flintlock training program will bring together around 400 soldiers from across West Africa to improve the skills of forces that are regularly attacked by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Forces from Guinea, as well as Mali and Burkina Faso, two of the nations hardest impacted by Islamist extremism, were not there. Since 2020, military juntas have seized power in those three nations, raising fears of a resurgence of West Africa’s post-colonial image as a “coup belt.”
Coordination between multiple forces battling the same enemy is at the heart of this year’s training.
“Information exchange is a major focus of Flintlock. We can’t operate together if we can’t communicate “At the opening ceremony, Admiral Jamie Sands, commander of the US Special Operations Command Africa, remarked.
Large swaths of the Sahel, the parched region south of the Sahara Desert, are infiltrated by Islamist extremists. Since 2015, violence has ravaged Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, killing thousands and uprooting more than 2 million people. Insurgents have penetrated coastal countries such as Benin and Ivory Coast, according to security experts.
The gangs slip through porous borders, baffling a patchwork of local and international troops that have spent billions of dollars attempting to eradicate the menace.
Since 2013, France has led the campaign against extremists, although public opposition to the action has grown. It announced last week that it will quit Mali and relocate to Niger.
Diplomats are concerned that the departure of 2,400 French troops from Mali, the epicenter of the violence, could further destabilize the area.
