Africa is the world’s terrorism hot spot with half of 2022′s victims, say counter-terrorism experts

Counter-terrorism experts said Tuesday that Africa is w world’s terrorism hot spot, with half of victims killed last year in sub-Saharan Africa, though al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates remain widespread, persistent and active elsewhere around globe.

Interpol, international criminal police ncy, also reported during a panel discussion at U.N. that terrorism linked to extreme right-wing ideology increased an estimated 50-fold over past decade, particularly in Europe, rth America and parts of Asia-Pacific.

experts see or trends: Deteriorating global security is making terrorism threat “more complex and decentralized.” Extremists are increasingly using sophisticated techlogy, and drones and artificial intelligence have opened new ways to plan and carry out attacks.

United Nations this week is hosting its third high-level conference of heads of counter-terrorism ncies. Tuesday’s panel on assessing current and emerging terrorist trends and threats brought toger experts from U.N., Interpol, Russia, United States and Qatar, and Google’s senior manr for strategic intelligence.

overall me for week is addressing terrorism through reinvigorated international cooperation. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during Monday’s opening session key is to unite t only in foiling attacks but also critically to focus on preventing terrorism by tackling poverty, discrimination, poor infrastructure, gross human rights violations and or underlying drivers. At Tuesday’s session, Africa took spotlight.

“Africa has emerged as key battleground for terrorism, with a major increase in number of active groups operating on continent,” U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said, ting that local political, ecomic and social “fractures,” porous borders and “identity-based mobilization” had fueled emergence of al-Qaida and Islamic State group, also kwn as ISIS.

Several areas of continent, from Burkina Faso and Sahel and more broadly to Chad and Sudan, still face consequences of flow of weapons and foreign fighters from Libya, Khiari said.

Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos following NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. After  Islamic State’s self-styled caliphate was defeated in Iraq in 2017, many of its foreign fighters fled to rth African nation.

Col. Gen. Igor Sirotkin, deputy director of Russia’s Federal Security Service and head of its National Anti-Terrorism Committee, told meeting that West Africa, especially Maghreb and Sahel, “are becoming epicenter of Islamist terrorist threat, with armed terrorist groups expanding ir influence, and we see danger of ISIS being reincarnated as an African caliphate.”

Qatar’s special envoy for counter-terrorism, Mutiaq Al-Qahtani, who said half victims of terrorist acts last year were in sub-Saharan Africa, called for counter-terrorism efforts to focus on continent.

Justin Hustwitt, coordinator of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against Islamic State and al-Qaida, said situation in West Africa continues to deteriorate and IS “seems to be trying to position itself as a political actor.”

He said IS in greater Sahara is taking advant of lack of counter-terrorism operations, especially in tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and re are “growing concerns” about IS and al-Qaida taking advant of any opportunity in Congo.

Interpol’s counter-terrorism director, Gregory Hinds, said al-Qaida and IS-related groups continue to inspire and carry out attacks in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, rth America, Europe “and w across Africa and Asia at alarming pace.”

Hinds said 50-fold increase in terrorism linked to extreme right-wing ideology “is being influenced by global events and global nda.”

Secretary-General Guterres also said “neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements are fast becoming primary internal security threats in a number of countries.”

On significant deterioration of global security in last few years, U.N.’s Khiari said number of conflicts globally is on rise again after two decades of consistent decline, and ir nature has changed.

“Civil wars that start off locally are more likely to become internationalized, and conflict parties are increasingly fragmented,” he said. “Civil wars aggravate grievances and foment regional international instabilities creating a fertile ground for n-state armed groups, including terrorist groups, to proliferate.”

On a more positive te, Gregory LoGerfo, U.S. State Department’s deputy coordinator for counter-terrorism, said IS has t only been defeated in Iraq and Syria but its leadership has been “taken out or captured,” large-scale attacks have been prevented, and billions have been invested in stabilizing region.

“But for all of our progress, we’re t done yet,” he said.

U.N.’s Hustwitt echoed that Daesh’s leadership has suffered serious attrition, adding that “ group’s resources are depleting, and y are very focused on revenue generation.”

Tobias Peyeri, Google’s senior manr for strategic intelligence who formerly worked for U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism, said company bans content produced by or supporting designated terrorist organizations, and is committed to fighting ”“ hatred and extremism that leads to terrorist violence.”

But he said bad actors, like extremist groups, “continue to become more savvy in evading detection,” citing as examples ir use of coded communications, complex narratives and conspiracy ories, and ir modifications of existing popular computer games.

To counter se efforts, he said Google relies on expertise in local markets, “advanced AI-driven visual matching techlogies,” special detection techlogies, and or measures.

Peyeri said artificial intelligence “is already helping world with challenges from disease to climate change, “but if t developed and deployed responsibly, AI systems could amplify current societal issues such as misinformation, discrimination, and misuse of tools by bad actors including terrorists.”