AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Over half of all terrorism-related deaths in the world occur in the Sahel. That's according to a new report from the Institute for Economics and Peace. The vast region in Africa that lies just south of the Sahara Desert and encompasses 10 countries has also been singled out for a second year in a row as the global, quote, "epicenter of terrorism." NPR West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu is here to tell us more. Good morning.
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So tell us about this region and the rising levels of insecurity there.
AKINWOTU: Yes. The Sahel is this semi-arid region just north of where I am in Lagos - in Nigeria - and it covers this belt of countries from Guinea-Bissau - which is along the Atlantic - to Sudan on the Red Sea. And essentially, this entire region is suffering extreme effects from various crises. First, a climate crisis, with desertification and flooding, and it's also gripped by political crises with several military coups. And then there's just extreme levels of violence.
It now accounts for 1 in 5 attacks from militant groups around the world and 51% of deaths, according to the Global Terrorism Index, which is a monitoring system by the Institute for Economics and Peace - or IAP. And this trend is most severe in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where they're facing major insurgencies from armed groups. And the main one is a group called Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin - or JNIM - which is aligned with al-Qaida.
RASCOE: These three countries have also been at the center of Russian influence in Africa. How is that playing into the current situation?
AKINWOTU: Yeah, it's a significant factor. These three countries are former French colonies and Western partners. But, frankly, France was deeply unpopular there for its political meddling and influence. Its military forces were key parts of the fight against militant groups like JNIM. But despite some gains, insecurity overall continued and worsened, and that context has clearly been exploited by Russia.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have all strengthened political and security ties with Russia, and they've cut ties with France, to a lesser extent the U.S., and even countries in the region. There have been major tensions with the regional bloc ECOWAS, and the three countries have decided to go their own way and form their own bloc, announced by Burkina Faso military president, Ibrahim Traore, earlier this year in a speech.
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IBRAHIM TRAORE: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: It's called the Alliance of Sahel States, which they're forming to help each other confront their similar challenges. But they're also under pressure from their own people and within their military ranks because these military leaders took over on the back of just huge levels of dismay and frustration with insecurity. But the violence is getting worse.
RASCOE: Of course, there is a slightly different, but also devastating, situation in Sudan, almost two years into a horrific civil war. But it seems there's been a shift in recent months. What's the latest from Sudan?
AKINWOTU: Well, the impact of the war continues to be absolutely devastating - more than 12 million people displaced, famine growing in a number of areas, levels of violence against civilians, against children, including sexual violence. For a while, there wasn't a clear advantage in this war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces - or RSF - which are a powerful paramilitary group.
But the army has been making gradual gains over the last several months, and they're close to taking back the capital Khartoum, which will be a major moment. At the same time, as the RSF are on the back foot, they're desperate to maintain some form of legitimacy, and they're forming a parallel government with some armed groups. But that's been condemned by the U.S., Egypt and others.
RASCOE: That's NPR West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu. Thanks so much for speaking with us today.
AKINWOTU: Thanks very much, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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