The astonishing figures were reported by regional official Omar Touray during the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. The violence, which has forced 6.2 million people to flee their homes as internally displaced people (IDP) and made 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance, is just “a snippet of the horrendous impact of insecurity,” reported Touray.

“The reversal of democratic gains runs parallel to insecurity that West Africa and the Sahel have been facing for some time now,” he said, adding that between January and June 30, there were 2,725 attacks in Burkina Faso, 844 in Mali, 77 in Niger and 70 attacks in Nigeria that all led to 4,593 deaths.

Additional attacks in Benin and Togo, he said, are a “stark indication of the expansion of terrorism to littoral states, a situation that poses an additional threat to the region.”

The spread of terrorism across West Africa represents the greater goal of Jihad throughout the African continent and furthermore throughout the entire globe. Islamic extremists aim to establish a caliphate and enforce extreme Sharia law in whatever areas they conquer.

The political instability and poverty of Africa’s Sahel has created an environment for terrorists to thrive, enabling them to strengthen and spread into other African countries, which is why we are now seeing them move further and further west. If the quest for a global Jihad continues, Christians are especially vulnerable and singled out as “infidels,” or “western crusaders.”