British forces are backing a massive counter-terror mission to stop West Africa being flooded with Islamic State fighters who could threaten the UK.
Hundreds of UK troops will deploy to Mali later this year to help fight off a growing number of terror attacks from thousands of jihadists.
Africa’s Sub-Sahara region is fast becoming a deadly new frontier against IS, al-Qaeda and other murderous groups.
African countries have united in a mission to stop a new jihadi stronghold exporting terrorism to the UK – as happened in Syria.
Terrorists have emerged all over the Sahel, which covers north Nigeria, Chad, Niger, northern Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and South Sudan.
One young Nigerian officer, war -weary from fighting IS-related jihadists Boko Haram, warned: “ISIS is coming. They are so bad.
“But I am not afraid – we are being well trained to fight them.”
The Mirror joined Operation Mansio, the Senegal-based British contribution to American-led
Exercise Flintlock.
Troops from 1 Scots and the Royal Marines are training African forces to smash terrorism and, later this year, 250 more will deploy to neighbouring Mali. Many Nigerian special forces here are fresh from battling Nigerian-based Boko Haram, which has kid- napped and slaughtered civilians.
Lt Michael Ola-toye, 29, of the Nigerian Strike Force Brigade, has fought Boko and looks forward to taking on ISIS.
He says: “The terrorists have killed friends of mine. I have lost five room-mates who were good friends of mine and that makes me sad. Boko killed them.
“Now ISIS is coming. My message to them is they need to surrender or we will come after them and take their lives away.”
Gen Dagvin Anderson, an American who heads Special Operations Command Africa, said: “Al-Qaeda has the will and desire to attack the West. They’ve done it multiple times and they’ve obviously done the spectacular attack on the United States.
“That’s their ultimate goal. I do believe if we aren’t able to check this, then eventually people start to pursue those objectives. We really value what the UK brings here and welcome their partnership.”
In the arid scrubland outside Thies city in Senegal, UK soldiers are training Nigerian, Cameroon and Moroccan special forces.
They will be sent all over the region to fight the jihadist uprising.
In the Sahel last year, there were 700 IS and al-Qaeda attacks, with 70 soldiers from Niger being slaughtered in one incident alone.
Col Matthew Botsford, who commands the British military training team here, said the West Africa jihadi explosion could, if unchecked, reach the UK. He said: “None of us wants to see a caliphate anywhere near West Africa that imposes its regime and Islamic law.
“Recent events in the UK over the last couple of years have proved there is a link from Africa to the UK and back to Africa – slavery, drugs, trafficking, you name it.
“The UK wants to play a part in ensuring that link is broken and doesn’t manifest itself on the streets of Germany, France or the UK.”
The Sahel is a semi-arid belt stretching across Africa between the Atlantic and the Red Sea. It is 620 miles wide and 3,360 miles long.
Members of 1 Scots are teaching African special forces to battle IS. Lt Col Andy Watson, of 1 Scots,
said: “There has been a big increase
in activity and events over the last 12 months.
“What we have seen over the last year is an increase in the use of the branding of ISIS in the region, and that ISIS brand has big potential in the Sub-Sahara.
“We are capacity building and, with the help of local forces, will prevent the risk of that spreading to the UK, EU and our NATO flanks.”
Every day here in Senegal, African special forces troops are taught how to assault Islamist strongholds, conduct counter ambushes and snatch terror bosses.
This US-led mission is a major push against jihad after nearly two decades of war on terror, which began immediately after the 9/11 al-Qaeda atrocities in 2001.
Col Djibril Diawara, 40, a Senegalese special operations commando, says: “The spreading threat in this region is affecting many countries. We think the capabilities that have been demonstrated in Mali could have been imported from other countries.
“There are new capabilities like the use of IEDs. We are in a connected world.
“We are fighting an enemy which sometimes has no face – but also has a face – so our goal is to reduce the military threat and make sure the ideas and philosophy which lead to these activities do not spread.
“We are all African soldiers, trying to defend African countries, trying to tackle an African threat growing in our region.”
This is the most dangerous peace-keeping mission in the world – and British forces are playing a vital role.
Growing fears groups could band together
Terror groups al-Qaeda and ISIS both have footholds in West Africa.
But, unlike in the Middle East, the two are more likely to join forces to launch attacks.
Boko Haram is the most notorious organisation in Nigeria and it has been fighting local forces for years.
The group, whose name means ‘Western education is forbidden’, have kidnapped, raped and murdered tens of thousands, many of them young girls.
It has also been seen in Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
Although it us on the brink of being defeated, there are fears its fighters will join al-Qaeda and/or ISIS affiliates to form one terror ‘super group’.
Civilian attacks spark a humanitarian crisis
Jihadist attacks in the Sahel, stretching from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, have caused havoc.
The UN says they have increased fivefold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016, with more than 4,000 deaths reported last year in the three hardest-hit countries.
Increased violence targeting civilians in this semi-arid region has caused a major humanitarian crisis.
In the past 12 months, more than 700,000 people were forced to flee their homes in Burkina Faso, according to the UN.
Tens of thousands from Mali and Niger have been displaced and thousands of schools have been shut.