Niger asks France for more aid to fight terror

Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou on Tuesday asked France to increase its military support in the fight against Islamic extremism in the Lake Chad Basin. But experts say the resources of France and other Western countries contributing to the global fight against terror are starting to stretch thin.

“We want a strengthening of this operation across the Sahel, including to address the threats we face with Boko Haram,” Issoufou said during an official visit to France.

Issoufou’s request follows a June 3 terror attack, in which Boko Haram seized Niger’s southeastern town of Bosso and killed 26 of the country’s soldiers. France has 3,500 troops stationed in five countries in the region. Paris also offers intelligence, logistics, and training to the multinational forces tackling Boko Haram.

“The attack showed Niger really needs a lot more capacity, equipment, and more troops on the ground in that region,” said Martin Ewi, a counterterrorism expert with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa.

Boko Haram, which got its start in northeastern Nigeria, has become the most deadly terror group in the world, according to the Global Terror Index. The insurgent extremists have staged attacks in Nigeria and in the neighboring Lake Chad Basin countries. On Tuesday, Boko Haram killed at least four people and kidnapped three women in an attack on the Kautuva village. Kautuva is near the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls two years ago.

French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday his country would back the multinational force combating Boko Haram, without giving more details. But the French military is currently assisting in several conflicts. In April, France said it will increase its troops in Ivory Coast to counter growing extremist threats in that region. The French military also is involved in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Following last year’s attacks on Paris, French authorities deployed about 10,000 troops in France.

“The war against terror is global,” Ewi said. “Many of these great powers and even the U.S., as the leader of the international cooperation to defeat ISIS, are being overstretched.”

According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, nations spend a combined $9.6 trillion every year on the impact of violence containment around the world. But global forces still have the capacity to diminish terror threats as long as that remains a top priority and they address the root causes of terrorism, Ewi added.