Mauritania issues warning on growing terrorism in the Sahel region

The Mauritanian Interior Ministry has warned that the situation across the Sahel is at a critical point. According to the latest data published by the Global Terrorism Index, 43% of deaths resulting from terrorist acts in the last year have occurred on Sahelian territory. Mohamed Ahmed Ould Lemine, Mauritania's interior minister, explained that the region's political fragility and the continuation of armed conflicts are the main reasons why crime and the influx of migrants are on the rise. He went on to say that ‘hundreds of thousands of displaced Malians are welcomed harmoniously in Mauritania, but the need to take preventive measures to avoid the passage of organizations to our borders is becoming more and more imminent.’