The United Nations warned on Tuesday that the security situation in the Sahel region is “very worrying”. Indeed, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Pobee, told a Security Council meeting on the G5 Sahel that the situation in the Sahel is alarming given the proliferation of armed groups that continue to carry out large-scale attacks.
Ms. Pobee told the meeting, which brought together five countries in the region, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad, that non-state armed groups continue to attack civilians and the military and engage in clashes over access to resources, territorial control, and influence.
Ms. Pobee noted that “terrorism and violent extremist groups frequently target border areas, particularly the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
Similarly, Ms. Pobee referred to the crisis in Sudan as an additional source of concern, saying that the devastating effects of the ongoing destabilization of the Sahel will be felt beyond the continent.
In this context, the UN official recalled that the security crisis is worsening the already dire humanitarian situation, saying that in Burkina Faso, about 4.7 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, compared to 3.5 million in 2022.
Regarding the G5 Sahel Joint Force, the UN official noted that the force has made steady progress in its operationalization, “in a context of reconfiguration of European and French forces and Mali’s withdrawal from the G5 Sahel, underlining the determination of this force to strengthen intra-regional cooperation, particularly by establishing bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms with the Malian Armed Forces in the fight against terrorism.