After years of keeping the Sahel’s military rulers at arm’s length, the United States is quietly recalibrating its approach, seeking to re-establish working relationships in a region now described by its own commanders as the epicentre of global terrorism.

Senior Pentagon officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee that extremist organisations have expanded their reach and sophistication across the Sahel, exploiting political instability, weak governance and the withdrawal or downsizing of Western forces.

“Today, the epicentre of global terrorism is in Africa. ISIS leadership is African. Al-Qaeda’s economic engine is in Africa. Both of these groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland,” General Dagvin Anderson, head of United States Africa Command (Africom), warned lawmakers.

He pointed to recent militant advances in West Africa, including attacks near Mali’s capital, as evidence of a shifting threat. The capture of a capital city, he cautioned, would give al-Qaeda “all the trappings of a nation-state to sponsor global terrorism”.

In the Sahel, al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has tightened its grip on key routes and resources, notably by choking fuel supplies to major population centres. Islamic State-linked factions are also entrenched, with one group believed to be holding an American hostage.

Anderson said a 75 per cent reduction in Africom’s regional posture, combined with fewer on-the-ground partners, has created an “intelligence black hole” that hampers early warning and rapid response. “In a crisis, we can always surge assets, but you cannot surge trust,” he told senators, arguing that rebuilding pragmatic ties with Sahel states is now a strategic necessity.

Nigeria has emerged as a central pillar of Washington’s revised approach. Anderson praised what he called a “very positive engagement” with Abuja, citing expanded intelligence sharing and joint efforts against Islamic State-affiliated fighters. US airstrikes in support of Nigerian operations have underscored the deepening cooperation.

Yet that partnership is shadowed by mounting allegations of civilian casualties from Nigerian air operations. Rights groups say a recent strike in Tumfa killed at least 100 civilians, including children, a claim the Nigerian military denies.

Analysts note that Washington’s renewed interest in the Sahel is driven not only by counterterrorism concerns but also by competition for influence and access to critical minerals, as Russia and other powers court the same governments the US once shunned.