Jihadist Groups and Water's Weaponization: Environmental Terrorism in Lake Chad Basin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12700/jceeas.2026.6.2.458Keywords:
Water’s Weaponization, Jihadist Groups, Environmental Terrorism, Hydro-terrorism, Lake Chad Basin (LCB), Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)Abstract
Regardless of whether environmental terrorism is considered a tool or a target for vital natural resources, its objective remains to achieve political or ideological ends. This is why jihadist groups have focused their activities on controlling water resources, causing a security dilemma, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin region (LCB). Firstly, this geographical area has been significantly affected by global warming and intensified conflicts, creating an insecure context for water scarcity. Secondly, this is evident in the control of water supplies for military purposes by extremist and jihadist factions, namely groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State, particularly Boko Haram, which seize water reserves to limit access for local populations and use them to strengthen their political power. The research was underpinned by case study methodology, providing a comprehensive analysis of the complex issues surrounding environmental terrorism and the militarisation of water resources by extremist groups in the Lake Chad Basin. Consequently, the countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) must reorient their anti-terrorism cooperation policies in the region towards an integrated approach to water security to be able to tackle the transnationalisation of environmental terrorism employed as a weapon by jihadists and to recognise that peace is achieved through water management, rather than military force.
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