Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi and Defence Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara — alongside French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian came together in a momentous occasion in Jacqueville, near Abidjan, to inaugurate the International Academy for Combating Terrorism.
The aim of this establishment is to train cadres and special forces from the African continent in a move to reinforce the resistance efforts against jihadist extremists in the region.
These terrorist groups have steadily intensified their violent attacks in the Sahel and gradually expanding nearby areas.
Téné Birahima Ouattara, the Ivorian Prime Minister says the site covers 1,100 hectares with a development project of about 15 billion CFA francs. These developments make it possible to accommodate a management facility, to provide 3 training courses for 25 trainees simultaneously, to house 25 trainees and feed 80, to train units in the fields of counter-terrorism in urban and rural areas, shooting and close protection.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Foreign Minister, also says their responsibility is to fight together against this common enemy whose abuses in the Sahel concern us directly because on the threat map, the Sahel is the southern border of Europe and the northern border of the Gulf of Guinea states.
All actors in the region must now fully appropriate this exceptional tool while intensifying their joint commitment against the groups that threaten them. This must be done in the wake of the Accra initiative and ECOWAS’ 2020-2024 action plan, all in order to eradicate terrorism.
The academy launches right when French President Emmanuel Macron announced a profound transformation of France’s anti-jihadist military operations on the Sahel.
