African Union: Preparedness Required for Threat from Return of Thousands of ISIS Members

The African Union has warned about the potential return of nearly six thousand ISIS members from Iraq and Syria to the continent, urging its member countries to prepare for upcoming threats. According to a report by AFP, Ismail Chergui, a senior security official in the African Union, stated on December 20 that African countries need to collaborate more closely and engage in greater information exchange. Chergui noted, "Reports indicate that among the 30,000 foreign ISIS fighters, six thousand were African citizens who joined this terrorist group in the Middle East." The Algerian news service quoted this senior official during a meeting in Algeria, stating that "the return of these elements to Africa poses a very serious threat to the national security [of the continent's countries] and its stability, requiring closer cooperation among countries and specific actions to counter these threats." The group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, made significant advances in Iraq and Syria in 2013 and 2014, claiming a caliphate led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the territories of these two countries. However, in recent weeks, the group has been cleared from major areas in both countries, with regional officials, including in Iraq, reporting the "liberation" of territories previously under its control. Last November, the Soufan Group reported that at least 5,600 individuals from 33 countries who had joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria had "returned to their home countries." The Soufan Group states that both before and after the declaration of the self-proclaimed "caliphate," "more than 40,000" foreign fighters from 110 countries joined the ranks of this group. It was noted that among this number, apart from regions like Africa, East and Southeast Asia, about six thousand were from European countries, nearly nine thousand from former Soviet states, and around 500 from North America. The "Africa Center for Strategic Studies," based in Washington, named groups such as Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Islamist militants based in the Sinai and North Africa as specific regional threats across Africa last winter. According to this center, it is expected that relationships will form between ISIS and these groups, although the scope and nature of these relationships will differ significantly. Nonetheless, this center has also warned that the reduction of ISIS's influence in Iraq and Syria will have significant impacts on the security situation across Africa.