By Ben Wolfgang – The Washington Times
A top U.S. general this weekend warned that a “wildfire of terrorism” is sweeping across Africa as the continent seems poised to become the next global epicenter for Islamic extremism.
Speaking to reporters during a major international military exercise in Morocco, Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend said affiliates of al Qaeda and the Islamic State group are growing stronger in Africa, particularly across the Sahel region in the north. The Sahel includes parts of Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan.
Meanwhile, the al Qaeda offshoot al-Shabab controls huge swaths of territory across Somalia and routinely carries out deadly terrorist attacks along the Horn of Africa.
All of those extremist groups are “on the march,” said Gen. Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command.
“I am concerned about the security situation across a band of Africa,” he said. Despite years of counterterrorism campaigns, Gen. Townsend said, the situation is deteriorating.
“All of that does not seem to be sufficient enough to stop what I call … [the] wildfire of terrorism that’s sweeping that region,” he said.
