The United States has warned that ISIS-linked terrorist networks are resurging across West Africa and other parts of the continent, raising fears of renewed extremist expansion in regions already battling insurgency and weak state control.
In a new counterterrorism strategy document, Washington said remnants of the Islamic State group, displaced after military defeats in Iraq and Syria, have regrouped in parts of Africa and Central Asia, exploiting fragile governments and ungoverned territories to rebuild their operational strength.
The US specifically identified West Africa, the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin, Mozambique, Sudan, and Somalia as regions facing renewed jihadist threats.
“As a result, today there are parts of Africa where a resurgent terror threat is the reality,” the document stated.
“These include, in West Africa, the Sahel region, the Lake Chad Basin, Mozambique, Sudan, and of course Somalia, where parts of ISIS have re-established themselves and Al Shabaab maintains its tribal-based Islamist insurgency.”
The warning comes as Nigeria continues to battle Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), both of which operate across parts of the North-East and the Lake Chad region.
According to the US, ISIS affiliates in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin have continued to seize territories and carry out attacks against military formations and civilian populations.
Washington said its new strategy would focus on preventing jihadist groups from establishing strongholds capable of launching attacks against the United States and its global interests.
“In Africa, we have two clear goals that depart from the nation-building and interventionist policies of the past,” the document stated.
“The first is to guarantee that none of the Jihadi groups can build a base of operations that allows them to plot and execute attacks against the United States and American interests around the world.”
The US also declared that protecting Christian communities targeted by extremist groups would remain a major priority.
“The second is to protect Christians, who have been slaughtered at the hands of these Jihadi groups,” the document added.
The report comes amid growing criticism from some US lawmakers and advocacy groups accusing Nigerian authorities of not doing enough to stop attacks against Christian communities in parts of the country.
However, the administration of President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly maintained that Nigeria’s security crisis transcends religion or ethnicity and affects citizens across different regions and faiths.
The US also referenced President Donald Trump’s decision to authorise airstrikes against Islamist militants on Christmas Day, describing it as evidence that attacks on Christian populations would not be ignored.
Nigeria reportedly approved the operation.
Although Washington signalled plans to reduce its overall global military footprint, it said counterterrorism operations in Africa would continue, particularly against extremist groups capable of carrying out external attacks against American targets.
The strategy document said the US would deepen bilateral counterterrorism cooperation with African governments by sharing intelligence, strengthening local forces, and supporting joint security operations against ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked groups.
The US added that African nations would, however, be expected to shoulder more of the counterterrorism burden in the coming years.
“Wherever possible, we will marry such CT cooperation with the stabilising effect of heightened trade and commercial relations,” the document stated, citing President Trump’s peace initiative between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example of linking security with economic prosperity.
The US further noted that Africa possesses “almost limitless potential” but warned that meaningful development would remain difficult unless governments exercise stronger control over their territories and deny extremists safe havens.