ALGIERS-Thirty senior officers from the intelligence services of eleven Sahel-Saharan countries partook Tuesday in Algiers in a training on “Analysis of the Operational Intelligence” to strengthen the capacity of member states of the African Union (AU) on counterterrorism.
The training initiated by the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) in cooperation with the German Police (Bundeskriminlamt / BKA), aims to strengthen the capacities of Member States in the fight against terrorism able to draw up an African Peace & Security Architecture (APSA) in the region.
During nine days, highly qualified German experts will provide training on the collection, analysis and assessment of information to participants from eleven Sahel-Saharan countries able to make their effective action against the terrorist threat in the region.
Fifth of its kind, this training is for the AU Commission and the German Government, engaged with the ACSRT and the German police, “another milestone in their joint efforts to strengthen the capacity of African States in counterterrorism, “said the CAERT Head of Database and Documentation Ameur Dahmani at the opening of this conference.
Besides, the training is intended primarily to States involved in the process of Nouakchott and that of Djibouti, following an express request of the Heads of the intelligence and security services of the aforementioned processes and a need identified by the ACSRT in assessment missions in these countries since 2011.
Spread of terrorism in Sahel, consequence of Libyan crisis
The consequences of the Libyan crisis that continue to haunt the region have been highlighted by Dahmani at the opening ceremony of the training.
“Terrorist groups, from near or far, seem to engage in coordinated activities, causing hundreds of casualties among the civilian population and security personnel,” affirmed Dahmani.
After praising the efforts made in the process of Nouakchott, Dahmani recalled that terrorism and organized crime continue to “represent real threats to peace and security in the continent, especially in the Sahelo-Saharan region.”
“Ongoing events in the Sahel and abroad such as the infiltration of terrorist elements in the communities, including the borders, challenge us on the urgent need to deepen and broaden our intelligence gathering system,” added the representative of the Director of the ACSRT.
Besides Algeria, twelve Sahelo-Saharan countries partake in this training, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Kenya and Somalia, in addition to the joint intelligence fusion center and the Great Lakes region (JlFC).
