"The Counter Extremism Project’s Riza Kumar warned: 'Wagner’s violent activities are increasing ammunition for violent extremist groups in their recruiting efforts across the Sahel. Whether or not Wagner establishes formal ties with Burkina Faso and Niger, the PMC’s impact is being felt across the region.

'As violent extremist groups expand their geographical scope, they have the potential to influence the communities on the border areas and potentially persuade them to see Wagner as predatorial rather than protective.'"

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: "Unfortunately, this is just the latest incident in a region that is really now a belt of insecurity stretching from the West African coast all the way to the East African coast. And Burkina Faso is unfortunately by now one of the hotspots of this region, which large-scale networks both of al-Qaeda as well as the Islamic operate. Now in Burkina Faso, the main operating network and very likely candidate responsible for this attack is JNIM, the coalition that al-Qaeda built of regional affiliates in 2017, which now controls large parts of the country."

CEP Tweet linking to "Syria: Extremism and Terrorism" report quoted: "With Wagner Group’s presence in #Mali, #Russia has continued to make inroads across the Sahel, particularly in Mali’s southwestern neighbor Burkina Faso. The Wagner Group has been accused of indiscriminate killings in Mali. More on Russia’s interventions"