27 September 2013

Boko Haram Linked To Group Behind Kenya Mall Attack

A report by a committee of  the United States House of Representatives has linked the  fundamentalist Islamist sect, Boko Haram,  to Al Shabaab, the terror group that carried out the September 21 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya.

Al-Shabaab is a Somali-based group whose members are said to be highly proficient in suicide bombing.

The report dated September 13, 2013 and entitled, ‘Boko Haram: Growing Threat to the US Homeland’, also acknowledged the growing relationship between the Nigerian sect and another terror group, the Al Qaeda in the land of the Islamic Maghreb.

The 39-page report noted that “while there is no evidence that al Qaeda’s core in Afghanistan and Pakistan commands Boko Haram’s operations, it is clear from the words of multiple US  officials and  media reports that Boko Haram is supportive of, and supported by Al Qaeda networks such as AQIM.

It noted that “it is the unity of ideology and mutual hatred for the West between the Al Qaeda networks that exposes the danger Boko Haram poses to the U.S Homeland.

The committee described Boko Haram as a “hardened and sophisticated terror network” that required multiple simultenous local and international efforts to enhance the capacity and capability of the Nigerian Police and the military to curtail its activities.

It said there was an urgent need by the US to designate the sect as a Foreign Terrorist Organization because it has shown no signs of ending its aggression against the government of Nigeria and the Western world.

The committee wrote, “The world is coming to know more about Boko Haram; their intentions, what they’re capable of, and who is supporting them. The US Intelligence Community is working to erase the gaps in our understanding of Boko Haram, but it is already evident they are a serious threat to US interests and potentially to the US Homeland.

‘‘Acknowledging this threat publicly by designating Boko Haram an FTO will establish a legal mechanism for prosecuting any supporters within US jurisdictions.

“This is an increasingly important tool given their attempts to market themselves to a wider international audience.

“Boko Haram shows no signs of ending its campaign against the government of Nigeria and the Western world. Two years after their August 2011 bombing of a United Nations facility in Abuja, Nigeria, Boko Haram remains a threat to the international community, and continues to be a developing threat to the US  Homeland.

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