Channels

Photo: AFP
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
Photo: AFP

Official warns of interconnected terrorist network

Top intelligence official says Boko Haram, Islamic State are sharing resources and tradecraft, raising fears that Islamic terror groups are helping each other expand.

Islamic terrorists are expanding their global reach through mutual cooperation, a top counterterrorism official said on Thursdsay, the Daily Beast reported.

 

 

According to the report, the American Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that Nigeria-based Boko Haram is increasing communication with other African terrorist groups and the Islamic State group.

 

“All of that just adds to the picture of an interconnected terrorist network with the ability to share resources, personnel, expertise and tradecraft in a way that serves as a multiplier to their own capabilities, and that’s a disturbing trend,” the Daily Beast quoted Rassmusen as saying.

 

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram (Photo: AFP)
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram (Photo: AFP)

 

The report noted that the statement making a connection between Boko Haram and the Islamic State was unprecedented.

 

“There is no known tactical cooperation or leadership communication,” an unnamed intelligence official said as recently as last week, said the report.

 

However, Rasmussen said that the Islamic State group “has reached out and developed affiliated relationships, endorsement-like relationships with groups outside of Iraq and Syria, including in North Africa, including in Algeria, and including in, I believe, Yemen as well."

 

The Daily Beast added that a connection between the two groups might have ramifications in the war authorization bill President Barack Obama has submitted to Congress, which seeks authority for military action against IS "and associated forces" – which could potentially authorize US troops to act against Boko Haram in Africa.

 

The report noted Rasmussen's comment that the bill “likely allowed to the possibility that other networks… might align themselves with ISIL.

 

Aftermath of Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga (Photo: AP)
Aftermath of Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga (Photo: AP)

 

The Islamic State group has announced its expansion into several countries in the last few months. In November, Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, swore allegiance to the group. Last month the group struck more than a dozen army and police targets in the restive Sinai Peninsula with simultaneous attacks involving a car bomb and mortar rounds, killing at least 27 people, including civilians.

 

Boko Haram has terrorized Nigeria for years. The Daily Beast said the group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings of five Westerners and captured Nigerian military outposts in the northeast of Nigeria.

 

Boko Haram frequently abducts civilians and executes hostages. It also attacks villages and massacres inhabitants. Last year, it kidnapped 300 schoolgirls. In January, international media outlets reported that 2,000 people were killed by the group in a town near the border with Chad.

 

On February 7, US intelligence officials said they estimated that the group has about 4,000-6,000 "hardcore" fighters. The following day, Nigeria and its four bordering countries – Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin -- announced plans to deploy an 8,750-strong force by next month to fight Boko Haram.

 

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, UN Special Representative for West Africa, said on Friday that Nigeria needed "to demonstrate greater resolve than has been the case so far in this fight against a serious enemy, Boko Haram."

 

Boko Haram fighters attacked a village in Chad on Friday, the group's first known lethal attack in that country, which killed several people, including a local chief, according to residents and security forces. Attacks had previously been limited to Nigeris, suggesting that Boko Haram may plan to expand its reach.

 

Chad is the base for a French regional counter-insurgency operation "Barkhane" which provides intelligence and logistical support to the Chadian army. Earlier this month, France sent military advisers to Niger's southern border with Nigeria to help coordinate military action by regional powers against Boko Haram. French military aircraft also carried out surveillance missions to help countries bordering Nigeria.

 

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.13.15, 22:55
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment