Security agencies around the globe have expressed concern over the increasing rate of terrorist recruitment of youths on social media platforms.
And intelligence agencies have warned that if the trend prevails, fighting terrorism is likely to pose a big challenge to grapple with by all security agencies.
Reliable research agencies have summed up the total number of Kenyans successfully recruited into the terrorist groups to come up to 6. And the Kenya Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) has list of missing Kenyan youth who are suspected to have joined the Somali based terror group Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen (HSM). Others are likely to have crossed over to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Kenya’s security personnel are working on intelligence to scale up operations to mop up terror cells within Kenyan borders. It is also of equal importance to thwart any efforts in recruitment of the youth into terror groups. Dealing with social media to thwart recruitment still has challenges.
- Propaganda is easily available through internet
- The Internet is borderless
Terrorism is a global problem and there is an urgent need for concerted regional and international responses and cooperation in dealing with this trend. Meanwhile, it is dire to beef up anti- radicalization campaigns, which calls for public co- operation with security agencies.
