Couple of days back there was a report that the West must be wary of Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and that the US was prematurely writing off al-Qaeda there, with talks of further withdrawal.
This statement was made by a front line General in Afghanistan.
The fear seems to be well founded.
Fresh analysis suggests that the threat is Real.
This has been dealt in detail in a Study which I am quoting below.
The world should not breathe easy as yet.
Refers to:
Key Findings
Recent attacks in Nigeria, coupled with ongoing insurgency in Somalia and
current turmoil in Mali, underline that the jihadist challenge may be migrating to
Somalia, Kenya, north Nigeria and the borderlands of some of the vast territories
of West Africa.
¾ As the central leadership of Al-Qa’ida is weakened and
challenged, the terrorist movement is looking to partnerships
in Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa to re-group and re-energise
itself
¾ Despite greater co-operation, there seems to be an unresolved
tension between transnational aims of Al-Qa’ida-core and the
local grievances of African partners
¾ Following the alliance with Al-Qa’ida-core, regional
affiliates such as Al-Qa’ida in the Maghreb and Al-Shabaab
have undergone similar patterns of strategic, tactical and
propagandistic evolution
¾ Nigeria’s Boko Haram is still focused on a local campaign, but
recent operational refinement and ability to stage deadly
‘spectaculars’ suggests disturbing connections with other
regional terror groups
¾ Links between Al-Qa’ida-core and some jihadist groups in
Africa have been established over the last decade which vary in
strategic and operational significance
¾ A range of new challenges are possible as jihadism evolves
and disperses into territories of ungoverned space across
large stretches of the African continent. Among these are the
potential for radicalisation and mobilisation of a new subset of
British youth in the UK
http://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/UKTA2.pdf
Valentina Soria, a counterterrorism research analyst and U.K. think-tank RUSI, told msnbc.com by telephone that the network had been damaged by the death of Osama bin Laden and other leading figures.
Her report, titled “Global Jihad Sustained Through Africa,” which was published at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, said al-Qaida’s leadership was looking for partnerships with like-minded organizations in parts of Africa – such as al-Shabab and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb — to “regroup and re-energize itself.”
West ‘unsighted’ by shift
Soria told msnbc.com that the war on terror was at a key point, as while al-Qaida was weaker, Western counterterrorism officials had been “unsighted” by the apparent shift to Africa.
“I think it’s certainly an important junction, a critical moment because obviously counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan … and Yemen have been quite successful in decapitating the organization [al-Qaida], a lot of important figures have been removed,” Soria said.
“There is no doubt the organization is much weaker than it was a few years ago,” she added.
The report said that “despite greater co-operation, there seems to be an unresolved tension between transnational aims of al-Qaida-core and the local grievances of African partners.”
Osama Bin laden’s Brother in Law speaks out Video.
Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law, Zakaria al-Sadah, spoke to NBC News in Islamabad in his first interview with an American television network. He said he is concerned for his sister, who was shot in the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader, and frustrated she and her children have been in custody ever since. NBC’s Amna Nawaz reports.
Click the Link provided for the story.
Related articles
- Al-Qaeda’s Message Boards Down For 11 Days (thinkprogress.org)
- Wither al-Qaida? (iago18335.wordpress.com)