In Ghana, jihadists from the Sahel find refuge and supplies, according to sources

By David Lewis and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila

NAIROBI/ACCRA (Reuters) – Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are quietly using northern Ghana as a logistical and medical rear base to support their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in Africa from the West.

The sources, including Ghanaian security officials and regional diplomats, said Ghanaian authorities appeared to mostly turn a blind eye to insurgents coming from neighboring Burkina Faso to stock up on food, fuel and even explosives, as well as to treat wounded fighters. at the hospital.

But they said this approach, while so far sparing Ghana from the type of deadly Islamist attacks that have hit its neighbors, risks allowing militants to take root in the country and recruit from some marginalized local communities. .

Ghana shares a 600 km (372 mile) border with Burkina Faso, the country at the heart of an insurgency that has killed thousands, displaced millions and, some experts say, transformed the Sahel region into the epicenter of global terrorism as factions loyal to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State expand their presence.

Burkina Faso has lost control of more than half its territory as a pro-Al-Qaeda group known as JNIM has gained ground. A JNIM leader told French channel RFI this week that its goal was to establish itself in Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Unlike Benin and Togo, Ghana has not suffered a major attack.

Boniface Gambila Adagbila, Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso, told Reuters that militants were taking advantage of porous borders and considered Ghana a “safe haven”, but denied suggestions that authorities had entered into a de facto pact of no -aggression with jihadists. He said Ghana was working with Burkina Faso to “flush them out”.

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Ghana, which holds elections on December 7, is considered a strong democracy and has close relations with Western countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which regularly praise it for its role in promoting peace and security in the region.

“The lack of real attacks on Ghanaian soil appears to be a result of JNIM’s calculation of not disrupting supply lines and resting places and not provoking a relatively strong army,” Clingendael, the Institute Dutch International Relations, in a report.

The organization said Ghana was addressing the threat in several ways, including through joint operations with its neighbors.

“Yet to avoid escalation, he also appears to have agreed to de facto non-aggression with JNIM,” Clingendael said, citing high-ranking government sources who said disruption of supply networks risked provoking violence.

A senior Ghanaian security official told Reuters that militants are using Ghana as a rear base to launch attacks elsewhere and also to seek medical treatment.

However, the official, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue, said they were monitored and sometimes used as informants. There have also been cases of activists handed over to the Burkinabe authorities.

“We have arrested many terrorists in the past and handed them over to Burkina,” the official said, adding that Accra preferred to handle these cases discreetly.

Ghana’s Ministry of Information declined to comment.

When they first emerged in West Africa 20 years ago, Islamist militants, mainly from Algeria at the time, were operating in northern Mali and the government of the day had adopted an informal non-aggression pact: Bamako helped negotiate the freedom of Westerners kidnapped by militants who, on return, did not carry out attacks in Mali.

As violence spread following a jihadist offensive in Mali in 2012, officials in Burkina Faso and Niger repeatedly attempted to make similar arrangements. They all collapsed as the insurgency gained power or governments fell.

Anger over heavy losses caused by clashes with militants has sparked coups in all three countries since 2020. The juntas that have taken power have all expelled Western military support and instead turned to Russia to get help.

Western countries have since refocused their resources on efforts to consolidate the northern regions of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast, which border the Sahel.

ACTIVE IN GHANA

Ghana is a centerpiece of this pivot to the coast.

Asked why the militants had so far refrained from attacking Ghanaian targets, the Ghanaian official replied: “You won’t destroy the place where you sleep, will you?”

Clingendael said that of the 40 incidents recorded in Ghana since 2015 believed to be linked to violent extremist groups, only two involved actual violence. The rest involved forces moving across territory, attempting to recruit fighters, scavenge supplies, or seek refuge.

“Violent extremists are indeed active in Ghana,” he says.

In recent years, weapons experts have traced explosive charges and detonator cords used in bombs targeting U.N. and government troops in Mali to mining operations in Ghana, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters.

Aaron Atimpe, an expert on extremist groups, said militants entering Ghana were recruiting from local communities. “It’s not just a place where they can rest and get supplies. In doing so, people are radicalized and recruited.”

(Reporting by David Lewis in Nairobi and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila in Accra; editing by Silvia Aloisi and Sharon Singleton)