Al-Qaeda exploits vulnerable populations as it seeks to expand in Africa

KABUL -- As al-Qaeda affiliates attempt to expand across Africa's Sahel region, they have demonstrated ruthless disregard for the lives and livelihoods of the populations they are attempting to subjugate.

Al-Qaeda operates in the Sahel region through groups such as Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which is active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and has been attempting to extend its influence to the south.

JNIM has tried to make inroads in areas with weak governance and security challenges, bringing trouble and bloodshed to local populations as it seeks to expand its control, experts said.

The group roams rural areas, using intimidation tactics such as abduction and killings to menace villagers and organize attacks on towns from camps in the bush, International Crisis Group researcher Ibrahim Yahaya told AFP.

In addition to attacks carried out via ambush, shelling, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosives dropped from drones, al-Qaeda affiliates burn harvests and abduct community leaders to force villagers into submission.

Civilians suspected of collaboration with national armies are kidnapped or killed.

JNIM finances its operations via kidnappings, cattle theft and by forcing civilians to pay "zakat," feeding on local grievances to establish territorial footholds by presenting itself as the defender of marginalized communities.

'Destruction and fire'

"In the JNIM narrative, there is the reference to the Islamic ideology, but linked to forms of local demands," Timbuktu Institute in Dakar director Bakary Sambe told AFP.

Al-Qaeda claims it is fighting the enemies of Islam. But most of JNIM's victims are Muslim, and its acts of terrorism contravene Islamic teachings, experts said.

"The group's activities revolve around suicide bombings, mass killings, violence, extremism, kidnappings, fear-mongering and oppression," Herat-based university professor Ahmad Zia Afzali told Salaam Times.

"Which of these actions align with Islamic values and principles?"

"Al-Qaeda's leaders exploit Islam as a tool for personal gain," he added. "Their actions have nothing to do with Islam and violate all Islamic teachings."

The extremist group now operates as a network of "terrorists, mafia groups, human traffickers, arms and drug smugglers and kidnappers who seek personal profit at the cost of innocent lives," Afzali said.

"The weakening of al-Qaeda in the Middle East and other countries is good news," said Herat-based military expert Abdul Hakim Irfan. "But its growing presence in Africa risks plunging many nations into war and unrest."

"Wherever it spreads, it brings destruction and fire," he told Salaam Times, comparing al-Qaeda to "cancer."

"While African nations already struggle with poverty and hunger, al-Qaeda's presence will only multiply their suffering," he said.