ECOWAS to Deploy 5,000 Troops Against Rising Terrorism in West Africa as Death Toll Reaches 6,956 in 2024
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced plans to establish a 5,000-man kinetic force to combat terrorism in the region. This follows alarming statistics showing 1,605 attacks and 6,956 fatalities between January and August 2024. ECOWAS Commission President, Omar Touray, shared these figures during an international lecture organized by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja. The announcement was delivered on his behalf by Isaac Armstrong, Programme Officer of the Regional Security Division within ECOWAS.
Touray revealed that Burkina Faso experienced the highest number of attacks during this period, with 611 incidents resulting in 3,810 fatalities. Mali followed with 546 attacks and 1,424 fatalities, while Nigeria recorded 238 attacks leading to 905 deaths. Niger faced 153 attacks with 676 fatalities, Benin 44 attacks resulting in 66 deaths, and Togo experienced 13 attacks with 75 fatalities.
He emphasized that the creation of the kinetic force comes as part of a broader ECOWAS initiative to address terrorism, which has spread from the Sahel region and Lake Chad Basin to other parts of West Africa, including coastal nations like Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo. While the regional bloc is taking collective action, Touray underscored the importance of individual member states assuming responsibility for their national security.
Touray also provided a grim overview of 2023, during which the region experienced 3,587 terrorist attacks, with Burkina Faso alone suffering over 2,000 incidents. Mali recorded 1,044 attacks, and Niger saw 500, resulting in nearly 9,000 fatalities across the three Sahel countries. Coastal nations, including Benin and Togo, were not spared, with 177 attacks leading to 203 deaths.
Beyond the loss of life, terrorism has exacerbated humanitarian crises in the region. In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, 4.8 million people faced food insecurity in 2023, with 2.4 million displaced internally. Thousands of schools have also closed due to the ongoing violence, including 6,000 in Burkina Faso, 1,700 in Mali, and 1,000 in Niger.
The proposed force is part of ECOWAS’s broader efforts to halt the spread of terrorism and restore stability. Similar interventions, such as the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), have been deployed in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. However, experts caution that securing the necessary financial resources, estimated at $2.6 billion annually, will be critical to the success of this initiative.
