Photo credit: US Army Africa, “Burkina Faso Counter Terrorism Company receives training and equipment,” CC BY 2.0.

Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership

AKA

Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative

Abbreviations

TSCTI; TSCTP

Summary

A multi-year effort aimed at countering violent extremism and funded by the U.S. government, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership attempts to “to enhance the indigenous capacities of governments in the pan-Sahel (...) to confront the challenge posed by terrorist organizations in the trans-Sahara; and to facilitate cooperation between those countries and U.S. partners in the Maghreb (...).” In particular, the Partnership—which is led by the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. State Department—aims to contain and marginalize “terrorist organizations by strengthening individual country and regional counterterrorism capabilities, enhancing and institutionalizing cooperation among the region’s security and intelligence organizations, promoting democratic governance, and discrediting terrorist ideology.”