MILITANTS linked to al-Qaeda are broadening attacks across West Africa from their base in the desert to the coast. Their goal is to present themselves as the champions of resistance to France’s military in the region and prevent Islamic State’s (IS’s) expansion.Two groups — al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Mourabitoune — have claimed joint responsibility for assaults in Mali, Burkina Faso and Cote d’ Ivoire that have killed more than 65 people, many of them foreigners, since November.The weekend attack on a seaside town in Cote d’ Ivoire was the first strike hundreds of kilometres from the Sahel, an arid region below the Sahara, where French soldiers have been fighting militants since 2013.The French presence in former colonies, from Mali to Niger to Cote d’ Ivoire, is being used by al-Qaeda as a justification for its high-profile assaults on West African cities. The two groups recently reunited to compete with I S, which has bases to the north in Libya and is trying to recrui...
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