By Bennett Seftel, The Cipher Brief: “al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was poised to wreak havoc and generate further instability throughout the Sahel. Over the past nine months, this appears to have been the case as AQIM has accelerated its operations and stretched its target set into new territories.”
"[There is a] need to enhance outreach with partner nations in that area so that improving civil society is a priority as part of the counterterrorism efforts. That means coming in with education and other longer term efforts that address the grievances associated with some of the things that AQIM takes advantage of."
Insecurity in northern and central Mali, the epicenter of much of the region’s al Qaeda-related violence, continues to grow, while Islamist violence has spread from there and from northern Nigeria to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.