Muslim Extremists: Comments from Niger’s President (Sahel States)

All of us watching the Alliance of the Sahel States ((French: Alliance des États du Sahel, AES), a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso) will have noticed that the violence is ascribed to Muslim extremists.  I’ve never questioned this, as we know that these extremists are sent in to destabilize.  On the East Coast of Africa, the infiltration is as far South as Mozambique.  I learned just lately that there are Muslim Extremist groups active right down South in South Africa.

Knowing that, one does not question the why of this.  Niger’s president, General Abdourahamane Tiani, delivered a different conceptual understanding during an interview that he gave on May 31st.

Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.

That is the message Niger’s president, General Abdourahamane Tiani, delivered.

Tiani explained:  Islam has existed in Niger for well over a millennium, yet terrorism is a recent phenomenon linked to Western imperialism. He mentioned France, the European Union, and the United States as culprits, saying France backs the terrorist group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).

Tiani pointed out that the targets and victims of terrorism in the Sahel are overwhelmingly Muslims. Niger is roughly 98 per cent Muslim. Mali is approximately 95 percent Muslim. Burkina Faso is approximately 63.8 per cent Muslim. Where is the logic in religious zealots murdering members of their faith? Tiani put that question forward to the world.

He is not the first leader in the Sahel to accuse France of backing these groups. In 2022, Mali’s then-Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga accused France of supporting terrorists, providing them with arms and intelligence. Mali also sent a letter to the UN Security Council that year stating that France repeatedly violated Mali’s airspace and spied on the country to grant intelligence to terrorist organisations, and distributed arms to these paramilitaries.

I recently noted a statistic that 5 to 10% of Muslims form the extremist camp, and of course, these are divided into a multitude of various factions.  Whether this is an accurate depiction may change the optics of the Muslim Extremist profile materially.  This is not a massive number for a large population.  We are expecting an article that should clarify some of what is arguably a minimal understanding.

Even with such a minimal understanding, it is again confirmed who it is that weaponizes the world.