• Forum
• SITREP

• Military

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space
• Public Eye

Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative [TSCTI]

Torn apart by war, disease and poverty, and marked by vast ungoverned spaces, Africa is an emerging haven for our enemies in the Global War on Terrorism. That is why stability on that continent has emerged as such a key goal of EUCOM's strategic plan. Despite obvious problems, African nations are joining together and making progress in their quest to provide security and stability for Africans. The United States should focus efforts on assisting our African partners in building their regional capabilities.

The Trans-Sahara region spans ten African and Maghreb countries and is an area of acute vulnerability due to vast expanses of desert and porous borders. With a long history of being a center through which arms and other illicit trade flow, it is becoming increasingly important as terrorists now seek to use these routes for logistical support, recruiting grounds, and safe haven. The US Government has indications of extremist groups with experience in Afghanistan and Iraq operating in the Sahel.

Islamist terrorist organizations in the countries that border the Sahara, like the al-Para faction of the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) that held 32 Europeans hostage in 2003, continue to pose a threat to the stability of an already vulnerable region.

The Administration is considering a long-term interagency plan to combat terrorism in Trans-Saharan Africa. The goal of the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative, or TSCTI, proposes to assist governments in this region to better control their territory and to prevent huge tracts of largely deserted African territory from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups.

The Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative officially started in June with Exercise Flintlock 2005. US special operations forces trained their counterparts in seven Saharan countries, teaching military tactics critical in enhancing regional security and stability. At the same time, they encouraged the participating nations to work collaboratively toward confronting regional issues.

The Trans Saharan initiative builds on the successful Pan Sahel Initiative, launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to prevent terrorists from setting up safe havens in Africa. Vast, relatively unpopulated areas and a lack of strong government controls make parts of Africa particularly attractive to terrorists, Whelan explained. Traditional caravan routes in this area can provide hideouts and staging areas for international and regional terrorists and criminals who move goods and money to support their operations without detection or interference.

Other factors - war, poverty, disease, corruption and lack of education, among them - create an atmosphere of hopelessness where extremists' messages resonate, particularly with the younger generation. The very conditions that cause these humanitarian tragedies are also the very conditions that lead to breeding grounds for the kinds of threats that the US is most concerned about in this region.

TSCTI is being planned as a follow-on to the Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI) that began in 2002, which helped train and equip at least one rapid-reaction company, about 150 soldiers, in each of the four Saharan states: Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.

The overall approach is straightforward: build indigenous capacity and facilitate cooperation among governments in the region that are willing partners (Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria and Tunisia, with Libya possibly to follow later if relations improve) in the struggle with Islamic extremism in the Sahel region.

TSCTI would help strengthen regional counterterrorism capabilities, enhance and institutionalize cooperation among the region's security forces, promote democratic governance, and ultimately benefit our bilateral relationships with each of these states. Key aspects of the TSCTI training would include basic marksmanship, planning, communications, land navigation, patrolling and medical care.

TSCTI, like the PSI, would seek to directly engage with participating nations and assists in protecting their borders and exploiting opportunities to detect and deter terrorists by providing basic training and equipment and train additional forces. The TSCTI also envisions engagement with more countries than PSI with a greater emphasis on helping to foster better information sharing and operational planning between regional states. EUCOM would fully coordinate TSCTI efforts with US Country Teams to ensure that the total US effort in the GWOT is complementary and tailored to the unique conditions within each country in this region.

TSCTI would support US national security interests in the Global War on Terrorism by enhancing African regional security and promote an Africa that is self-sufficient and stable. The program would also better prepare participating nations to stop the flow of illicit arms, goods, and people through the region helping focus nations to better protect their own vast borders and regions.

This program built on the successful Pan Sahel Initiative, completed in early 2004, which focused on Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. TSCTI expands to include Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria. It increases assistance with detection and response to the migration of asymmetric threats throughout the region. The initiative will also help these nations maintain security by building the capacity to prevent conflict at its inception. TSCTI seeks to maximize the return on investment by implementing reforms to help nations become more self-reliant.

The Trans Saharan Counter-terrorism Initiative officially kicked off in June 2005 with Exercise Flintlock 2005. US special operations forces train their counterparts in seven Saharan countries, teaching military tactics critical in enhancing regional security and stability. The initiative was built on the successful Pan Sahel Initiative, which began in 2003, to prevent terrorists from setting up safe havens in Africa.

Despite its successes, the Pan Sahel Initiative was constrained from its inception by limited funding and a limited focus. The Pan Sahel Initiative and the inroads it made laid important groundwork for the new Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative.

The new program will be better funded - it will receive about $100 million a year for five years. And unlike the program it replaces, the Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative will introduce a more comprehensive approach to regional security. The Defense Department will continue to focus on military operations, expanding its scope from the company to the battalion level.

But other US government agencies also will become active players in the program. The US Agency for International Development, for example, will address educational initiatives; the State Department, airport security; and the Department of Treasury, efforts to tighten up money-handling controls in the region. While providing an interagency approach to the region, the United States will continue efforts to get participating nations to think regionally about their mutual security concerns.

The new initiative represents an important step in the United States' effort to address and fight global terror, with an emphasis on prevention rather than reaction. By building African nation's ability to counter terrorism within their borders, the United States can help prevent the region from becoming a safe haven where terrorists can train, organize and plan their operations.