Afripol sets cross-border crime, cybercrime, counter-terrorism as main targets

ALGIERS - The African General Assembly of the African Police Organization (Afripol) on Tuesday decided to set up three working groups dedicated to combating cross-border crime, cybercrime, counter-terrorism and violent extremism.

The African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui made the remarks at the end of the second General Assembly of Afripol, held on Monday and Tuesday in Algiers.

He said that member countries agreed to establish three task forces to combat three main scourges, namely transnational crime and cybercrime, while the third group is tasked with the mission of combating and preventing terrorism and violent extremism.

It was also agreed to hold meetings of the General Assembly every year in order to draw up common African positions and strategies at the annual conference of the International Criminal Police Organization, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security noted.

Chergui announced on Monday that a cooperation agreement between the Afripol and the Interpol will be signed on January.

"A cooperation agreement will be signed next January between Afripol and Interpol," in a bid to reinforce their partnership and coordination in terms of combating prevailing scourges such as terrorism and organized crime, he said.

Chergui stressed that Afripol is a key mechanism that contributes to regional peace and security, adding that the main challenges are "terrorism, transnational organized crime, as well as cyber security and capacity-building and training."

He further warned that African countries are facing complex and growing cross-border threats such as human trafficking, drugs, weapons and terrorism, as well as the illegal exploitation of natural resources.

Afripol is a technical body of the African Union which aims at adopting comprehensive vision to improve the effectiveness of African police agencies through information sharing and coordination.

The idea of setting up this mechanism was suggested during the 22nd African Regional Conference of the INTERPOL held in September 2013 in the Algerian city of Oran.

The organization was created on Dec 13, 2015 in Algeria and includes 41 African countries, and its headquarters are based in Algeria.