"While coastal cities connected to the world through seaports have been mostly unscathed, violence has been rising in areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. "It's a significant and burgeoning threat," said Michael Heath, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of West Africa. "It's something of concern to us because the capabilities of the governments in place - they've never faced a threat like this before," he told AFP. "There's a lot of people with family ties across borders in Burkina Faso and back and so forth," LoGerfo said. "You want a management system where you're not shutting off families or economies, but you also have to address the security problem," he said.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 08, 2023 20:17 UTC