Terrorism has become the modern-era form of war that is affecting the world by disturbing the peace, diminishing the prosperity of nations and overall offsetting global security. Some of the major terror organizations are offshoots of aggrieved individuals with an extremist agenda and driven by violence in the advancement of their agenda. Africa and the Middle East are among the most affected areas with most major terror organization with branches and affiliates in countries in the regions.
East Africa is a region that has been a marred by a huge terror threat mainly from the Somalia-based al Shabaab that is affiliated to Al Qaeda and the recent faction that pledged allegiance to ISIS. The region has been the target of many terror attacks because of relationship countries have with the West especially America which is considered enemy number by most Jihadis.
How Terrorism Has Affected The East African Region
- Disturbing the peace– Terrorism has been a major cause and the helm of the lack of peace in a number of countries in the region notably Somalia. violence purported by Al Shabaab in Somalia has spilled over to her neighbors like Kenya, Tanzania, and The terror organization has created cells active in most countries and conducted attacks that have stirred the peace.
- Undermining development and economic growth– one of the major goals of terrorism is to undermine any development to push hopelessness among the people and in its place advance their uninformed agenda. In East Africa, Al Shabaab has been credited with making Somalia among the poorest countries despite having resources to be foster economic development. Also, in areas like the North Eastern and Lamu counties in Kenya development has been stalled because of the threat and attacks that disrupt the economic activities in the area.
- Unsettling prosperity– Al Shabaab has without a doubt hindered prosperity in the East African countries with attacks bringing down buildings, roads and other infrastructure that citizens can use to better their lives. For instance, in Kenya, they have disrupted the education system by attacking and killing teachers as well as non-local owned business owners. Assassinations of business people is a major hindrance of affluence by residents of Al Shabaab-prone areas. It has also discouraged foreign investments in the region due to the high risk of attack and major losses. Tourism which is a major source of income for countries in East Africa has been greatly affected by the numerous travel advisories that reduce the number of guests and hence reduced income and opulence.
- Exploding and advancing hatred– groups like Al Shabaab are created on a sectarian agenda that blooms to shunning, attacking and killing those they consider as ‘non-believers’. Al Shabaab has pitted Muslims against other religions and especially Christian and kill them indiscriminately which has since spewed hatred and suspicion between the two. Al Shabaab has diminished the good neighborliness previously exhibited among the affected communities causing people to attack innocents based on what their religious compatriots have done.
Terrorism has undoubtedly affected globalization, regional peace and regional cooperation as countries take stringent measures to protect their citizens from threats by the terrorists domestically and from without their borders. While it could have increased regional cooperation in fighting a common enemy, the fight against Al Shabaab has been the cause of certain measures that affect the base relationship between the nations. For instance, relations between Djibouti and Somalia are sour as the former is accused by the latter of funding the Al Shabaab. Therefore, overall the terror threat is overwhelmingly a deterrent and a multi-faceted threat to the East African region.
