West Africa Conflict

In the first half of this year, West Africa experienced over 1,800 terrorist attacks, causing nearly 4,600 fatalities. During a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Omar Turai, the head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), described this as just a fraction of the region's severe insecurity. 

He revealed that within the fifteen member countries of ECOWAS, there are approximately 500,000 refugees and nearly 6.2 million internally displaced individuals. ECOAS estimates that over 30 million people in these member countries are facing extreme food insecurity, with projections indicating that this number could rise to 42 million by the end of next month if international intervention is insufficient. 

The head of ECOWAS) highlighted various factors contributing to insecurity in the region, including terrorism, armed rebellion, organized crime, unconstitutional changes in government, illegal maritime activities, environmental crises, and the spread of misinformation. He expressed particular concern about the military's control over the people in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. In addition to the devastating loss of human life, the region faces a setback in its democratic achievements. 

Mr.Turai presented statistics on terrorist attacks, revealing that in the first half of this year alone, 4,593 individuals were killed. Burkina Faso suffered the highest number of casualties with 2,725 deaths, followed by Mali with 844 deaths, Niger with 77 deaths, and Nigeria with 70 deaths. Turai also noted that Benin and Togo, two coastal countries previously unaffected by terrorism, have recently experienced a surge in attacks, indicating the spread of this threat to coastal regions. 

It seems there are just two potential solutions to address this issue: the formation of a 5,000-person brigade with an annual cost of $2.3 billion or the deployment of forces based on demand with an annual cost of $360 million. He reiterated the African Union's request for regular funding from the United Nations, with the participation of all 193 member states, for peace operations in Africa.

_{Source: ECOWAS}