Ever since the allied invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, in pursuit of al-Qaeda and to topple the Taliban regime, media pundits have pondered where the “next Afghanistan” might lie. Whereas the tri-border zone (WAR Report) of Brazil , Paraguay , and Argentina has become a focus, and while this author has often highlighted the existence of training camps for a multitude of different jihadist groups on the Philippine island of Mindanao, both are quite remote from the heart of Osama bin Laden’s anti-Western campaign. Others tout Iraq as the “new Afghanistan,” despite the fact that the country is currently patrolled by numerous coalition forces. However, the Sahel region, which straddles many international borders across the southern reaches of the Sahara Desert, is uniquely situated at the confluence of a variety of militant Islamic insurgencies. Additionally, although the vast desolate landscape provides sanctuary for encampments and training, they are linked by networks of land routes established by smugglers, militants, and weapons traffickers

To counter this threat, the United States has been building a presence on the continent with deployment of military forces based in Djibouti . The WAR Report first covered the effort in West Africa on January 19, 2004 (“U.S. Sends Anti-Terror Team to W. Africa”) and followed shortly by a discussion of the initiatives in East Africa on February 23, 2004 (“U.S. General Urges East Africa to Pool Intelligence”). A May 2005 WAR Report analysis focused more on al-Qaeda’s lingering threat to the sub-Sahara region (WAR Report). Additionally, since January 2005, a variety of reputable news outlets have reported governments in South Africa , Angola , Somalia , Sudan , and even notably Sierra Leone have publicly revealed credible information of recent activity within their borders. United Nations Tribunal Prosecutor David Crane announced that al-Qaeda “continues to be in West Africa and [deposed Liberian dictator] Charles Taylor has been harboring members of Al-Qaeda,” in Sierra Leone, including those who participated in the 1998 US Embassy bombings (Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident) in Tanzania and Kenya . Crane concludes, “We also have activities as late as 6 April 2005.”

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