Senegal’s President Macky Sall opines that Africa must unite against terrorism; it is the only way the continent can win against organized terrorism. Sall was speaking on Monday at the 3rd International Forum of Dakar on peace and security in Africa. He added that with complex and multiple causes of terrorism, African armies needed to be better equipped to face terrorists all over the continent.
‘‘First, and obviously, we must imperatively strengthen the response capacity of our defense and security forces to deal with asymmetric threats, especially those related to terrorism. Terrorists are not choirboys. They are well organized. They (terrorists) have the means and the most basic modes of action and sophisticated to do their dirty work. Only the defense forces and security trained and efficiently equipped armies can face up to these threats,” he said.
Mr Sal also added that the United Nations peace operations should gear up in the region. He also expressed concern that the conflict in Mali had turned into “the bloodiest theatre in the history of [UN] peacekeeping missions”.
Mr Sal also added, “The truth is that in most of our countries, the armies are not up to the mark. Today, we have to make internal efforts to raise their levels.”