US Africa commander highlights terror growth in Sahel and competition with China for influence
Marine Gen. Michael Langley warns Sahel region is the epicenter of global terrorism with groups expanding through West Africa
Louis Casiano, Liz Friden / Fox News
A top United States military general warned Thursday that
terror groups in Africa are ramping up their ability to conduct attacks in the U.S.
Gen.
Michael Langley, the four-star Marine General who leads U.S. Africa
Command (AFRICOM), said the Sahel region of the continent is now the
"flashpoint of prolonged conflict and growing instability. It is the
epicenter of terrorism on the globe."
Several terror groups have
expanded drastically in the last three years. Al-Qaeda in the Lands of
the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is three times the size it was in 2022, he
said, and has spread across Mali, Burkina Faso, and parts of Niger,
which the U.S. military pulled out of last year.
Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, a faction affiliated with
Al-Qaeda, is now four times the size it was in 2022, expanding mainly in
Burkina Faso.
"We're keeping a good eye on this because they
could have the capacity to attack the homeland," Langley said in a call
with reporters. Read more and see video here.
