Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta watchdog says terrorist organizations exploit conflicts to recruit tribes in Africa

Dar al-Ifta's Observatory of Takfiri Fatwas and Extremist Views has revealed that Daesh and Al-Qaeda are taking advantage of the conflict over natural resources to recruit tribes in Africa.

In an official statement, the observatory affirmed that terrorist organizations are taking advantage of conflicts between farmers of some tribes and some state authorities.

It added that this explains why small farmers, especially ranchers, have been joining the two terrorist organizations.

Many farmers support terrorist organizations because they provide them with the necessary religious cover to justify their overgrazing, which is banned by authorities in Mali for example, and supply them with weapons and training.

The statement further added that terrorist organizations in Africa provide military training on how to use light and mid-range weapons for their recruits of tribal members, the matter which also added more fuel to armed conflicts between these tribes.

The observatory noted that Egypt is well aware of the importance of development to confront extremism. It shed the light on the significant role that Egypt is playing in developing Africa for the achievement of stability, especially after it restored its deserved stature in leading the African continent as it managed to achieve independence for many of its countries in the 50s and 60s of the last century.

The statement also praised the efforts by the Egyptian state under its role as leader of the African Union to firmly focus on development projects, which is deemed the locomotive of economic growth, social services, enlightenment and culture awareness on one hand, and addressing security problems cause by marginalization and poverty to be able to combat terrorism and extremism.