DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – Armed police now patrol the Ivory Coast beach where Islamic extremists killed at least 19 people earlier this month. And in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, cars are pulled over for security checks of trunks, back seats and bags.
Across West Africa, security measures are being beefed up following a spate of deadly extremist attacks, including the assault Monday on a hotel in Mali that houses a European Union military mission.
Despite the precautions, there is widespread fear over where the jihadis will strike next.
“Of course I am scared. I am scared that these people will continue their attacks. But this is not Islam. Islam is peace,” said Papis Sane, 42, who works at the Sea Plaza Mall in Dakar that is popular with foreigners. “It’s God who protects … Even with security, no one is 100 percent secure.”
The attacks include one on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali in November, a popular hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, in January, and the shootings earlier this month at the Ivory Coast beach. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, claimed responsibility for those attacks. Mali was targeted again Monday when gunmen attempted to invade a Bamako hotel where the EU training mission stays.