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Analysts claim the withdrawal of U.S. and European troops from countries in Africa’s Sahel, and their replacement by Russian mercenaries , has led to a spike in jihadist-driven terrorism.

The Sahel is a belt of countries running roughly west to east across the continent just below the Sahara Desert. A total of 3,885 deaths—about 51% of all terrorism-related fatalities globally in 2024—occurred in the Sahel, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

In at least three Sahel states — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — military juntas that came to power in coups, notably Niger and Mali, have expelled Western military forces. The U.S. was asked, after 11 years in the country, to halt anti-terror drone operations from two bases in N

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