The latest United Nations (UN) reported has warned that terrorist organizations associated to the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) pose a growing threat in Africa.
A report by UN Security Council monitoring team charged with tracking jihadists activity worldwide warned that Al-Qaeda and ISIS threat continue to compound indicating that the terrorists’ groups are not only resilient, but expanding steadily in many places in Africa.
Jihadist activities for many years have been in Middle East. Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have been engulfed with militancy challenge for decades but now, Africa is fast changing as the jihadist preferred destination.
The report further warns that Africa is now the region most affected by terrorism Al-Qaeda and ISIS-aligned groups inflicting higher casualties there than anywhere else. In many Africa areas, these terrorist groups are gaining support, threatening more territory, getting better weapons and raising more money.
Despite counterterrorism efforts in the continent, the militant activity continues to surge, maintaining a consistent pattern. Wherever pressure on jihadi terror groups is absent or negligible, they thrive. In Afghanistan, where the United States says it will complete its military withdrawal by August 31, the UN warns of a potential “further deterioration” in the security situation.
In East, the Al-Qaeda aligned Al-Shabaab continue to pose threat on military and civilian targets. The militant group Al-Shabaab operates in Somalia and sporadically waging attacks in Kenya and other Ethiopia. In Somalia, the group’s home-base, the report warns, US military withdrawal and the partial drawdown of the African Union Mission has left Somali security forces struggling to contain the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab.
In the Sahel, especially in Mali, where France is on the process winding down its counterterrorism mission, the report warns that Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists have consolidated their influence and are increasingly claiming populated areas.
In Mozambique and DR Congo, the report says, the absence of significant counter-terrorist measures have transformed the ISIS affiliate in central Africa into a major security threat.
The terrorist threat in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan is still significant despite counterterrorism pressure, the report warns of the group’s morphed capability to sustain a long-tern insurgency in the Middle East.
Concerted counterterrorism efforts need to be put in place in Africa in order to stem down the protracted Al-Qaeda, ISIS multiplying threat in Africa.
