Security issues, movement and networks in the Sahara-Sahel

A period of severe instability in the recent history of Sahara-Sahelian areas began in 2003 when the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) – later known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2007 – kidnapped some thirty Western tourists in the Algerian desert. This was the first time since independence that the Sahara or the Sahel was affected by such widespread and violent insecurity. From Mauritania to Libya and points in between, including Niger, Algeria, Mali and Nigeria, Chad is the only country in this area that has been left unscathed by armed conflicts or terrorism since 2010 this is somewhat paradoxical for a country long plagued by civil war and rebellion.