A top United States military general warned Thursday that terror groups in Africa are ramping up their ability to conduct attacks in the U.S. 

Gen. Michael Langley, the four-star Marine General who leads U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), said the Sahel region of the continent is now the “flashpoint of prolonged conflict and growing instability. It is the epicenter of terrorism on the globe.”

Several terror groups have expanded drastically in the last three years. Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is three times the size it was in 2022, he said, and has spread across Mali, Burkina Faso, and parts of Niger, which the U.S. military pulled out of last year. 

Protesters gather as a man holds up a sign demanding that soldiers from the U.S. Army leave Niger without negotiation during a demonstration in Niamey, on April 13, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

He noted that the terror groups engage in illicit activity like smuggling, human trafficking and arms trading, which fund their nefarious actions and destabilize the region.

U.S. forces over the weekend conducted an airstrike against the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab in Somalia. The East African country has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab. 

The U.S. is in a race with China and Russia to gain influence and trust with the local governments of several African nations to help protect citizens from terror groups. 

Langley said there is an increasing concern about the number of African soldiers going to Beijing for military training and replicating a U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.

Members of the al-Shabab terrorist rebel group parade through the streets of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Jan. 1, 2010. Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Michael Langley, warned Thursday that terror groups in Africa are ramping up their ability to conduct attacks in the U.S.  (REUTERS/Feisal Omar)

“They’re trying to replicate what we do best in our IMET program,” said Langley. “And then they also said they’re going to increase security and training in a number of countries. So, they’re trying to replicate what we do.”