Insecurity in this mineral rich region. In the second segment of our program, we are looking into the post that a partially radioactive voice left by an irresponsible French Company in niger is endangering lives and the environment of communities in these west african country. So stay with us as our experts give us their incisive analysis. You can also join our conversation by sending us your comments through our social media handle appearing on the screen. Terrorism devastating africa sahil. The 2023 global terrorism index, published by the australiabased institute for economics and peace, says the fatalities in terrorist attacks in africas sahil region have surged by over 2000 over the past 15 years. The report notes that across the sahil 2200. 74 people were killed in 6,408 terror attacks between 2,7 and 2022. One of the worst affected countries was burkino faso where last year terrorism deaths climbed from 759 to 1,135, the Largest Global increase. Mali was ranked fourth, nigeria stood eighth and niger was at 10th spot. On the latest index. Many people in the sahel believe that terrorists are indirectly backed by western powers, especially former colonial power france, because the presence of terrorists creates perfect conditions for the looting of the regions natural resources. Protesters speak here during demonstration nature against the presence of French Military forces. Its an open secret that france plays an active role in the development and maintenance. Terrorism, how many times has france killed us and looted from us, our gold, our uranium, everything that belongs to niger, france has got its hands on it, we do not accept this anymore, well for more on the unprecedented terrorism that has plagued the sahel region, we have contacted elius amare, a journalist and geopolitical analyst, thanks for your time sir, now what is the main factor behind this devastating surge of terrorism in africa . Sahil region, invasion of libya by us nato forces, of course the the huge destruction, the assassination of the leader khaddafi, and as soon as after that we witness in the sahal region of west africa, a spike in in socalled terrorism. Where does it come from . Well, these are remanants of the daesh, the the Islamic State that were. Of hired by us nato to fight in libya, and later of course they were exported to syria as well, so a part of them went to syria and some part went to this sahel west african countries uh to establish cells and expand their activities. The surge in terrorism across the sahil region of africa from 2007. Also coincided with the establishment of the United States africa command, commonly known as afrikom. Over the years, africams activities increased across the continent, so has the terrorism, it is meant to curve. Africom, was established around 2008 and now it has military bases or small garrisons all over africa, except my ancestor. Homeland of eritrea, thats the only exception that doesnt have any base, so uh, the the rational for this was to combat terrorism, of course. Thats an extension of the war on terror, the invasion in the middle east, iraq war, Afghanistan War and so on and so forth, so this rise of terrorist activities or war and terror in africa is an extension of of that war and terror by us and of course its western allies, france and so on and so forth, to increasingly military. Is africa, the military control of africa, and that control is for control of resources, of course, africa is rich country, is rich continent, france, which for decade carried out military operations in the sahel to ostensibly Battle Terrorists and insergents, now has about 3000 troops in africa, down from more than 500, two years ago. Last year, thousands of people took to the streets of mali to celebrate after the government order. French troops out of the country. France must leave mari. France is here to steal the resources of mari. France is here to colonize mari. Leave the country without delay. Theyve been here for 10 years and could not solve the problem. In our tradition, if there is a broom it means we dont want anymore. We dont want anymore. The broom means that. Thats why we put a stop to france. Now, why did french troops . Fail to end terrorism in the region, and in fact, during their presence, there was an upsage of terrorism, as we have seen in the report, exactly, the reason is these french troops of or us troops are not supposed to to end terrorism, the terrorism was created by them in the first place, so this is like a spoke. Okay, you create this daish Islamic State terrorists and then that creates the pretext for a proxy war, to continue the war by other means on africa, so you will not see an end to to the terrorism, in fact you will see increase, as as you have mentioned in burkina faso and mali, niger and other, and increasingly the population in these countries. Is getting frustrated and they are rising up against as you witness against france, french intervention, in mali, burkina faso as well as you know in guine, so the these western for military forces are not supposed to end terrorism, the terrorism would be a pretext to continue the proxy war and and thats continue the militarization or the military presence of this western imperialist forces to to to occupy africa and control its military and control its resources, access to its resources. Growing tensions between the us and china have seen africa being caught in new cold war, although china has presented its agenda in africa, as primarily focused on development, the us still feels was threatened by beijings presence, many african governments have seen chinas investment as more attractive because china has presented a nostrings attached policy for its aid. The chinese navy also established its first overseas support base in dji, and officials believe it is meant to promote peace and stability in africa. Setting up the support base in djibuti was a joint decision the two countries. It will better let china fulfill its responsibilities in the International Community and promote peace and stability in africa and in the world. Is there any link between the rise and terrorism across mineral rich african countries and moves by the United States to Counter China and russia in africa. In this period, the global situation, you see of course the rivalry between the global. The great powers so called china is very much involved in africa and investment in terms of trade in terms of building infrastructures and so uh the us is fearful of this rise of china and this engagement in africa and thus to deny africa access to african minerals, you see you witness this rise in in terrorism and through africa and through this french intervention, increasing militarization and control of african countries and their army, their military, and you will see of course. Occasionally arise in kudetas, in regime changes. Many african countries in the sahil are now turning to russia to combat terrorism despite opposition by western powers. During a visit to mari in february, the Russian Foreign minister sergey lafrof promised continued military support for moli in its battle against terrorists. During a joint press conference with lavrov, mallys foreign minister. Said that his country sees no need to justify working with russia on strengthening its military capabilities. Minister, by choosing to strengthen cooperation with russia, mari also wants to show and demonstrate that we are not going to continue to justify ourselves for our choice of our partners. Some of the sahel countries such as mali and burkina faso are turning to russia to combat terrorism. Now do you think this strategic shift will eliminate terrorism in the sahel . Well, i believe the case of mali, and perhaps the other country, what is. Faso, its a its a desperate attempt or stop gap measure to to shift away to to russian forces, maybe perhaps the wagner forces, so this is like a bundaid effort okay, the the long lasting solution of course would be uh to train their national armies, okay, and to. To end the the the us and western forces intervention in their countries, right now, as i have told you, africa has penetrated all african militaries, the sort of, they dont need physical bases, theyre occupyn or surepticiously the African Military commands okay, they train them, they military to military cooperation and so on so forth, so its this that has to end, once this is ended, then peace and security and stability will return to this african countries. Now african countries suffer from a historical disadvantage in Institutional Capacity due to deliberate policies that were pursued by colonial powers that looted and continue to loot the continents resources. Now what needs to be done to boost uh capacity in areas such as education, health, agriculture and infrastructure as part of solution to end terrorism in the continent . Yes, this very important question, the western imperialism in africa has 500 years, five centuries of history of looting and plundering, enslavement, genocide and what have you, so the solution cannot come from our tormentors and torturers. The very forces that have historically enslaved us, committed genocide on us, looted and plundered our resources, cannot be our saviors, salvation cannot come from that direction, the salvation comes from africa from within, okay, we have to look within, but in this new emerging global multipolar or multilateral new order, we can find partners such as in china, in in russia, in the bricks countries, in iran, in the middle east, so with this kind of cooperation, africa can uh, you know, benefit from economic trade, cooperation, investment. Well, there you have it, western imperialist powers through their proxies are the source of the current upsage in terrorism across africa and therefore they cannot be part of the solution to the challenges facing africa. Id like to thank our guest alias amare for his incisive analysis and now take a short break before our next topic on how a French Company left over 20 million tons of radioactive waste in niger so stay with us fear over French Nuclear waste in niger. Few weeks ago we came to this facility to talk about radiopharmaceuticals and specifically gallium and lutecium which have diagnostic and therapeutic properties, especially when it comes to Cancer Therapy and the. Missing link now is iodine, so we have Iodine Solutions and capsules that is administered to patients with Thyroid Cancer or hyperthyroidism. Stay tuned to see how these work to fight cancer in thyroid in this weeks episode if you want. A French Company left unestimated 20 million tons of partially radioactive voice in niger. In 1978, frances Nuclear Giant ariva, now called orano started extracting uranium in nigers arlit region. It closed the site in 2021 after extracting 7500 tons of uranium. Much of which went to nuclear fuel reactors that provide the backbone of frances electricity supply. The major concern is that raydon, a cancer causing radioactive gas derived from the natural breakdown of uranium has leaked and contaminated water in the region. A resident of the affected area says people are already sick due to the radioactive waste left by the French Company. There are people seven kilometers away from the queries. Thats what we have to bear in mind. Everyone is worried, people are sick, someone spends 40 years running a uranium chain, how can we say that these people will not get sick . To discuss this environmental crime uh by the french multinational in niger, we have contacted mustafa traore, academic and political commentator. Thanks for your time. Now, its mind boggling that a French Company can leave over 20 million tons of. Radioactive waste nature, now this can only happen in africa, whats the reason for such impunity . Uh, yes, i think that youre right, its not fair, but we all understand that when it comes to human rights, when it comes to the International Community and to respect um the right of of minorities and those who are being exploited, theres no justice, so this is a perfect illustration of the situation, we have rich country um spoiling the soil and polluting a country and nothing is done about it, so its not the first time, but this is a perfect illustration of how unfair the International Law and International Organizations are and we see it here and more surprised by the fact that no one is complaining, normally should be um maybe a country that is permanent member of the un that should react and try to defend the rights of nesha, but no one is doing it, and it seems that you know about it because you probably live or you are you probably are interested in in the topic, but i can tell you that in the french news theres not. Thing written about it. Niger, a leading uranium producer in the world, is supplier for france, while its people are gripped by poverty and environmental disaster. If you look at niger, it is among the 10 poorest countries in in in the world, when look at the gdp of niger, you have countries like mali, burkina faso that are even doing better than um than niger, and these countries have decided to expel the french and all the other colonizers very recently. The us has a massive drone base in niger for its military operations in the country and across the sahhil. France is also relocating its troops from other west african countries to niger. Mr. Traure, do you think these Foreign Military forces are in niger to oversee . The looting of uranium instead of combatting terrorism as they claim, creating instability enables them to uh to better exploit the land, just imagine if in fact niasia was safe country with very strong government trying and working for its population, they wouldnt be able to exploit and to get the uranium a very cheap price, okay, because a Good Government would. Think first of developing the country, benefiting from the resources of the country and not giving the resources for free, to to other countries, which is happening, this is what is happening now, now the French Company that dumped radioactive Nuclear Waste in niger failed to inform locals of the real dangers of the waste. Now the same company is eaying one of the worlds biggest uranium deposits at imoaren around 80 kilometers south of arlit. The founder of local Environmental Protection ngo in niger is leading efforts to inform people of the hidden dangers of radioactive waste left by the french uranium. Company, les gens, non, je veux dire, ils nont pas peur puisquils ne savent pas de quoi fait la radioactivite, ils ne connaissent pas ce quoi la radioactivite, la priorite des gens, cest la pauvrete, mais quand meme ces probleme, il faut pas les perdre de vue, il est la, les deux vont a la fois parce que la radioactivite augmente la pauvrete, parce quelle fait des victimes. Ariva, the French Company which dumped dangerous Nuclear Waste in niger, change its name and now plans to extract uranium from another site under new name orano. The change of name is meant to evade being held accountable for its previous crimes in niger. Yeah, this is how um, this is, it shows how tricky they are, and and it shows that they do not want to to repair anything, they are guilty of something, but they do not recognize it, because if your. Company was named areeva and areva committed the crime or made a mistake, so you just changed the name and replace it by something new, so that in fact you can they think that this is the way not to be taken to court, thats a strategy theyre using, we saw its not the first time we weve seen this one, we look at the african currency, same thing, yeah, you just change the name, but the system is still the same and you carry on exploiting the people. So here we have the perfect example of how people are not good people, how they are bad people, their intention is not good, they are guilty of what happened in the past with slavery, with colonization and seem that they dont want to change it still, it is still the same system they are using, exploiting people, Economic Development is hampered by lack of consistent supply of electric. Now the country has the potential to meet all its energy needs and supply Nuclear Power to other neighboring african countries in need of electricity. The uranium in neiger was supposed to eradicate poverty, but it has only ended up and reaching france and other European Union countries. Je ne sais pas quoi dire aux gens, si vous voulez le le fait quon demande lexploitation de luranium, cest pour lutter contre les fleaux de la. Mais ce que nous constatons malheureusement apres 40 ans a harlit en tout cas, ce flot na fait quaugmente, donc a aimararan je pense que cest exactement la meme chose qui va se passer et maintenant si jai un appel cest dappeler la population a etre un peu plus vigilante pour que il ait moins de pollution et quil ait plus de retombees. Now what needs to be done to tap into this . Without relying on exploitative western powers, understood that niger is providing 25, 25, 25 of the of the uranium that the eu needs, okay, so we know that the first country is france, so france is kind of distributing the the uranium to the rest of of of the eu, and this is where france gets its money, okay, so its everyone benefiting, so this is why they are all quiet about it, because they are all benefiting from it, okay, so thats a big problem, and i think that, yes, so to make things change, because i think the people of niger, they waited too long, and once you have all these different armies, foreign armies in your country is very difficult to make to to make things change, so i think unfortunately its going to take them uh, some time, well, unfortunately, our time is up for today, our expert there says france and other western powers are still looting nigers uranium while endangering the lives of millions in the country and west africa as hold due to radioactive was. I like to thank our guest mustafa traore for his insight today. Well, and that brings us to the end of these. Edition of africa today, its always great having you watch the show, drop us a line through our social media handle and let us know what you like to see covered here at africa today. To watch this episode on all our previous shows, go to our website price. Thanks lot for watching and goodbye for now shamsad muhammad, known better by his pen name hafez of shiraz, is one of the most beloved of iranian poets at home and abroad, but whats the secret behind his popularity and what were his . Reflected in his poems, from the environment to business and economy, to civil and human rights, to treaties and agreements, to war and. We bring you the overlooked aspects of world events and news from the farflunged corners of the globe. 10 minutes only on press tv. Israel savage strikes on the gazo strip claim the lives of hundreds of palestinian children as death toll exceeds 1500. 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