Former head of British Army, General Sir David Richards has warned that the world should pay more attention to the sub-Saharan threat from al-Qaeda.
Richards who retired as Head of the British Army last year said Britain needed to learn from what it had done, “and failed to do”.
The retired army chief recalled that in the past year, Islamist groups have stepped up their activities in several African countries.
In Nigeria, a state of emergency has been declared in response to attacks by another group, he said.
“I do worry very much that sub-Saharan Africa is the next front - in many ways it already is,” he said. Despite signs of growth elsewhere in Africa, the militants’ actions had caused widespread disruption and held back the region’s economies”.
In Somalia, African Union troops have been battling with the militant al-Shabab which came to global prominence with its attack on a Kenyan shopping centre earlier this year.
Also, French troops spearheaded the response to Islamist insurgents in Mali.
Richards also questioned whether the NATO operation against Libya in 2011 was the right thing to do, suggesting it may have contributed to the spread of arms in the region.
‘The 2011 NATO-led campaign to remove Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 may have helped the proliferation of arms in Africa”, he said.
He added that the campaign was a tactical success but that the jury was still out on whether it was strategically wise.
“We must learn from what we have done and failed to do in other parts of the world in trying to combat this risk and do it pretty quickly or it could become pretty vicious - as if it wasn’t already bad enough.”
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