Drones... A solution to the rise of terrorism?
Since 9/11, there has been an increase in
terrorist attacks and indiscriminate violence by Islamist groups such as
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Boko haram and Al-Qaida. States counter
these jihadist attacks with massive spates of bombings…
On the 15th January 2016,
Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants killed at least 28 people in an assault on the
Splendid Hotel, a nearby cafe and another hotel, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The attack, which was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), came
less than two months after gunmen attacked a hotel in the Malian capital
Bamako, killing around 20 people. The Bamako attack was also claimed by AQIM in
coordination with Al-Mourabitoun, an Al-Qaeda splinter group led by veteran
Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Militancy is going to be a growing threat in the Sahel region, which constitutes of a vast horizontal belt across Africa and includes Burkina Faso and Mali. This radicalization is clearly due to a lack of education and employment opportunities in the region…
I think we have to fix the problem of
illiteracy and education of third world nations. But, as is written
in The Guardian: “Dozens of US
special operations troops will arrive in Syria “very soon,” as promised by
President Barack Obama’s administration, a senior official has said.” A wiser reaction would have been to react carefully and peacefully by not dealing
with the states that sponsor terrorists. Unfortunately, powerful countries choose
to tackle terrorism by violent military counter-terrorism operations, with, for example, drone strikes: “Two drone strikes by
two different countries nearly 3,000km apart this week represents the
proliferation of Barack Obama’s signature mode of counter-terrorism” (The Guardian).
Operation Barkhane is an
ongoing anti-insurgent operation in Africa's Sahel region, which commenced 1
August 2014. It consists of a 3,000-strong French force, which will be
permanent and headquartered in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation
has been set up in five countries, former French colonies, that span the Sahel:
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. These countries are
collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel”.
This is a sad way to react; it only leads to
more violence and hatred around the world. Surely, if all countries acted
together in complete coordination, terrorism would be eradicated?
André MAXENCE wants to work in journalism.
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