WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2019) The vital elements in a whole government approach to combating terrorism in west and north Africa are military force and civilian counter-terrorism capabilities, US Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan Sales told reporters.
"We are both in west Africa generally and north Africa as well," Sales said on Thursday. "What is needed is a whole of government approach - military force where appropriate and where needed, but also boosting civilian counterterrorism capability. We have been doing a lot bilaterally."
Sales pointed out that the Islamic State (banned in Russia) has a robust presence in Libya and combatting the terror group requires integrating bilateral and multilateral effort.
"We need to integrate and we are integrating these military lines of effort and bilateral engagements along with coalition multilateral engagements to boost the capabilities of the states on the frontlines," Sales said.
Earlier on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there is a mounting concern about the threats posed by the Islamic State outside of Iraq and Syria, and an agreement has been reached that west Africa and the Sahel are a preferred initial area of focus for the US-led Coalition against the terror group.
Russian officials have said as far back as April that some Islamic State fighters have reached the south of Africa after their defeat in Syria.
