Reports that western powers are involved in formenting insecurity in this mineral rich region. In the second segment of our program, of we are looking into the post that a partially radioactive waste 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 africa sahil region have surged by over 2,000 percent over the past 15 years. The report notes that across the sahil, 22,74 people were killed in 6,408 terror attacks between 2007 and 2022. One of the worst affected countries was Burkino Fasso where last year terrorism deaths climbed from 759 to 1,135, the Largest Global increase. Malli 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 in naga against the presence of French Military forces. Its an open. Secret that france plays an active role in the development and maintenance of 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 plaged the sahel region, we have contacted elius amar a journalist and geopolitical analyst. Thanks for your time, sir. Now what is the. Factor behind this devastating surge of terrorism in africas sahel region . Invasion of libya by us nato forces, of course the the huge destruction, the assassination of the leader gaddafi, and as soon as after that we witnessed in the sahal region of west africa a spike in in socalled terrorism. Where does it come from . Well, these are remenents. The daesh, the the Islamic State that were hired by us nato to fight in libya, and later of course they were exported to syria as well, so part of them went to syria and some part went to this sahhil west african countries to establish cells and you know expand their activities, the surge and. Terrorism across of 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, afrikoms activities increase across the continent, so has the terrorism, it is meant to curb. African uh was established around 2008 and now it has military bases or. Small garisons all over africa, except my ancestral homeland of eritrea, thats the only exception that doesnt have any base, so the the ru 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 so forth to increasingly militarize 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 insurgents, now has about 300 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 ordered french troops out of the country. France must leave mali. France is here to steal the resources of mali. France is here to colonize mali. 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 us. Up 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 stocking hours, 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 and niger in 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 thus to continue the militarization or 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 threatened by beijings presence. Many african governments have seen chinas investment as more attractive because china has presented a no Strings 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 of 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 hegem, the great powers so call. China is very much involved in africa, investment in terms of trade, in terms of building infrastructures and so 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 rising 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 change. Many african countries in the sahel 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 molly 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. This is a marian decision. Cette decision est une decision, une decision qui est prise en toute responsabilite. Some 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 the burkina faso . Its a its a desperate attempt or stop gup measure to to shift away to to russian forces, maybe perhaps the wagner forces, so this is like a bondaid effort okay, the the long lasting solution of course would be to train their national armies, okay, and to to end the the the us and western forces intervention in their countries, right now, as ive told you, africa has penetrated all african militaries, the sort of uh, they dont need physical bases, theyre occupying or surrepticiously the African Military commands, okay, they train them, they. Military to military cooperation and so on so falls, so its this that has to end, once this is ended, then peace and security and stability will return to these 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 . Capacity in areas such as education, health, agriculture and infrastructure as part of solution to end terrorism in the continent . Yes, this is 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 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. Iraq will play a very Important Role in the transportation of goods. آغاز میکنیم عملیات رییل گذاری راهنچه به بسره it means that the main train between and iraq is not energy, actually it is going to be the consuming product. Has started relocating iranian kurdish groups from iraqs kurdish region frontiers with iran. It will positively affect our economic ties as well as tourism. A French Company left an excimated 20 million tons of partially radioactive was in niger. In 1978, frances nuclear gent arriver 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 radon, 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 well. 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 and academic and political commentator. Thanks for your time. Now, its mind boggling that a French Company can leave over 20 million tons of radioactive wast in 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 rights 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 the 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 im more surprised by the fact that no one is complaining, normally should be, be a country that is a permanent member of the un that should react and try to defend the rights of neja, but no one is doing it, and it seems that you know about it because you probably leave or you are you probably are interested in in the topic, but i can tell you that in the french news theres nothing written about it. Niger, a leading uranium producer in the world is a. Strategic 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 mari, burkina faso that are even doing better than than niger and these countries have decided to expert 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 instead enables them to uh to better exploit the land, just imagine if in faccia 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 radioactive Nuclear Waste in niger failed to inform locals of the real dangers of the waste. Now the same company is eying 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 mining company. Les gens non je veux dire, ils nont pas peur. Puisquils ne savent pas de quoi fait et fait la radioactivite, ils ne connaissent pas cest 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. 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 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 areva, and areva committed a crime or made a mistake, so you just change the name and replace it by something new so that in fact you can they think that this is the way uh not to be taken to court thats a strategy theyre using we so its not the first time we weve seen this what 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 uh colonization, and seeing that they dont want to change it still, it is still the same system they are using, exploiting people. Nigers Economic Development is hampered by lack of consistent supply of electricity. Now the country has the potential to meet all its energy needs and supply new. Nuclear power to other neighboring african countries in need of electricity. The uranium in niger was supposed to eradicate poverty, but it has only ended up in 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 flu de la pauvrete, mais ce que nous constatons malheureusement apres 40 ans, a harlit en tout cas, ce fleaux na fait quaugmenter, donc a hraran, 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 potential without relying on exploitative western powers. I understood that some. Niger is providing 25 per 25 25 of the of the uranium thats uh the eu needs. Okay, so we know that the first country is france, so france is kind of distributing uh the the uranium to the rest of of um of the eu, and this is where france gets his 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 make things change, so i think unfortunately its going to take them uh sometime. Well, unfortunately our time is up for today, our expert there. 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 voice i like to thank our guest mus