Sounding the alarm bells: The rise of terrorism in Africa
Tongkeh Fowale
February 04, 2008
The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001 were greeted with mixed reaction in Africa. This reaction ranged from outright condemnation of what President Thabo Mbeki called "dastardly acts," to street jubilation and celebration in northern Nigeria and Sudan. Such mixed reaction is very helpful in understanding the depth and breadth of terrorism in Africa. An estimated 25 Africans from 13 different countries died in the World Trade Center. The 9/11 attack exposed the level of sophistication and confidence of terrorists. One of the far-reaching consequences of this attack was that it brought Africa into full focus of what President George Bush called "a global war on terror."
Before 9/11, America´s concern over terrorism in Africa was limited mostly to states associated with extreme forms of Islamic fundamentalism. These "state sponsors of terrorism," as Washington branded them, involved Sudan and Libya. However, there is enough evidence today to suggest that the geographical scope of terrorism in Africa is very wide. Some of the most destructive terrorist activities in the 1990s took place on the African continent.
Terrorism in Africa is intricately linked with the political, economic and social dynamics of the continent. Political instability, poverty, disease, hunger, ethnic and religious tensions, porous borders, ineffective and corrupt governments, illiteracy and ignorance are all propitious conditions for the triumph of radicalism which matures into terrorism. This is the environment that has attracted terrorists from the Middle East. Terrorism has a strong presence in north and central Africa which have strong historical, geographical, religious and cultural ties with the Middle East, the cradle of terrorism. Today, Africa is host to terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, Islamic Group, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, AQMI, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Salvation Front, HAMAS, the Abu Nidal organization and others.
Besides the increasing popularity of religious fundamentalism, the myriad of civil wars in Africa and several forms of unrest make this continent a safe haven for terrorists. A recent report by International Action Network on Small Arms, Safer World and Oxfam, on the cost of conflicts in Africa shows that Africa accounts for 38 per cent of the world´s armed confrontations. Between 1990 and 2005, 23 African nations have been involved in armed conflict. Given that this report was published in October 2007, it did not take count of the recent chaos in Kenya and Chad which are the latest developments in the story of political deterioration in the continent. The frequency of such developments is a pointer to the fact that many more African states are on their way to decay. This is the environment that breeds terrorism. To measure the extent of terrorist grip on the continent, it is imperative to take a brief walk round Africa.
Beginning with East Africa, the countries of this region have had to grapple with religious extremism for decades. Somalia, the center of anarchy in east Africa has gone without a central government since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991. The infamous "Black hawk down" incidence in which 18 American soldiers were killed and dragged along the streets of Mogadishu is a sad reminder of the growing influence of terrorists in east Africa. The unending chaos in Somalia has prompted frequent retaliation from Ethiopia (with American backing). Somalia remains divided among radical warlords who draw considerable inspiration and support from nearby terrorists. In 1997 for example, Ethiopians Security forces killed a number of terrorist inside Somalia after several attacks on Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. In 1995, members of the Islamic Group, an Egyptian extremist group tried to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in Addis Ababa. In 2006 Ethiopia made a bold move into Somalia to wipe out the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which was accused for having ties with Al-Qaeda.
Kenya which was once a key ally in America´s war on terror in East Africa is already falling apart. This provides another fertile ground for an increasing number of terrorists in this region. US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were objects of terrorist attacks in 1998. This attack left 213 people dead (12 of them American) and 5000 wounded in Kenya. In Tanzania, 11 people died while 86 were left wounded. The Kenyan government pledged its support to fight terrorism after this attack. It offered strategic sea and air bases for use by US military, and exchanged intelligence information with the US. Kenya closed its borders with Somalia in 2001 alleging the flow of arms from Somalia. This gesture notwithstanding, Kenya´s minority Muslim population is feared for having links with other terrorist groups in east Africa. After the Nairobi bombing, an Islamic group calling itself the Liberation Army of the People of Kenya issued a manifesto supporting these attacks. Four years after the embassy bombings, Al-Qaeda struck again at an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombassa, Kenya, killing 15 people. At the same moment of this attack, it fired missiles at an Israeli passenger jet taking off from Mombassa airport.
Sudan has a long history of harboring terrorists. This country offered sanctuary to Osama bin Laden when he was exiled from Saudi Arabia in 1991. During his five year stay in Sudan, Khartoum became the head quarters of Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden took advantage of the country´s hospitality to exploit many economic opportunities and increase Al-Qaeda´s assets and cash flows. Bin laden was however forced to leave Sudan under pressure from the US which in 1993 had placed Sudan on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Though Sudan condemned the 9/11 attacks, it criticized the US-led invasion of Afghanistan on grounds that it was "unjustified and lacking legitimacy." Still in East Africa, Eritrea and Uganda are countries considered by the US as harboring militant organizations linked to Al-Qaeda.
In North Africa, the specter of terrorism looms far and wide. There is no state in this region which has not experienced terrorism in one form or another, or in one stage or the other. Its proximity to the Middle East and the influence of Islamic radicalism gives this region a "near-monopoly" status in radicalism. In September 2007, Osama Bin Laden´s Chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahri called for Jihad in North Africa to "cleanse (it) of children of France and Spain."
Algeria which has been the scene of regular confrontations between the government and extremists in the 1990s is a showcase of terrorism in North Africa. These regular confrontations between government and radicals had resulted to 100.000 dead and the disappearance of 17.000 others. The most vocal of these extremist groups in Algeria is the Salafist Group for preaching and combat (GSPC). Its avowed enemies are the Algerian government, the "infidel" West, and France in particular.
The GSPC later merged with Al-Qaeda to become the Al-Qaeda pour le Maghreb Islamique-AQMI, led Abou Moussab. This group orchestrated the April II, 2007 attack on an 8-storey government building in Algiers, killing 23 people and wounding 2000 others. Before the world could recover from this shock, Al-Qaeda in North Africa struck again at UN offices and a government building in Algiers killing 26 people and wounding 200 others. This group called the UN offices "the head quarters of International infidels." After these attacks, counter-terrorism officials in France confirmed that the group is drawing members from across North Africa. With the largest number of militants in Africa, Algeria is considered by Washington as one of the sources of funding for Al-Qaeda.
Elsewhere in North Africa, Egypt has also experienced its own share of Al-Qaeda attacks where the Muslim Brotherhood enjoys the blessings of Al-Qaeda. Though with no clear links with Al-Qaeda, Libya has been accused by Washington for supporting other terrorist groups. The Los Angeles Times of May 2004 implicates Morocco in the hashish trade that provided the finances used in the Madrid bombings of 2004. Tunisia which today shines out as a success story in the war on terror in North Africa was the theatre of extreme radicalism in the 1980s. What saved Tunisia was president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali´s brinkmanship and toughness embodied in his policy of "knowing and isolating the enemy," which scared the terrorists.
In West Africa, Nigeria holds a huge potential for breeding terrorism. Ethno-Sectarian violence, disputes arising from attempts to extend the Sharia law beyond the confines of predominantly muslim states of the north are all fertile grounds for militancy. Recurrent battles in the oil-rich Niger Delta region are very common. Western oil interests are primary targets for extremists. Conflicts in the Sahel are all too frequent. The rise of a radical group calling itself the "Nigerian Taliban" is erasing doubts about the drift towards terrorism. In mid 2003, Nigerian state security services arrested some militants with ties to Al-Qaeda in three Northern states. These extremists were apprehended with weapons and explosives.
South Africa, despite its relatively small muslim population has not been spared the scourge of terrorism. One Muslim group calling itself People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) has been linked to violent incidents in the Cape Town area. One of such acts of violence was the August 1998 bombing of the Hollywood restaurant, part of a US chain store. South Africa´s developed infrastructure remains attractive to terrorists seeking a base or at worst a target especially as this country is intensifying cooperation with the US in the fight against terrorism. Khalfan Khamis Mohammed, one of the perpetrators of the 1998 bombings in Kenya successfully sneaked his way through Mozambique into South Africa where he lived and worked until apprehended a year later.
This brief journey across Africa tells one simple story. The entire continent is at the verge of falling into the dragnet of terrorists. It highlights the extent to which the continent has been neglected and points to the futility of what goes by the name "war on terror." Judging by the maxim "a hungry man is an angry man," the entire world is beginning to see how poverty breeds terrorism. This is an important lesson for those engaged in the war on terror.
Turning a blind eye on the deteriorating situation in Africa and focusing on the "militarization of Africa," is far from what Africa needs in this war. The stationing of foreign troops on Africa soil to protect western oil and mineral interests is more of hypocrisy than fighting terrorism. "We need a police effort to go after terrorists, not military effort," says Bob Edgar, President of the pro-poor good government lobby group Common Cause. "We ought to take the money we´re spending on the military and address the needs of the poor domestically and internationally," he said. The frequent unrest and attacks on western oil interest in Nigeria is an indication of the level of frustration among African masses whose wealth is not theirs. These are the grievances which terrorists exploit to implant the ideology of radicalism as a way out of oppression or at least to "martyrdom."
Tunisia today serves as a reference case in the fight against terrorism. President Ben Ali´s "all front war" against terrorism touches on the fundamental roots of extremism. British Prime Minister, Tony Blair recognized the need to "reorder" the world in the fight against terrorism. An obscene world in which Blair´s words, "a billion people lived on less than $1 a day, where injustice and inequality were rampant," had to be reordered.
The conditions for terrorism continue to thrive in Africa. East Africa remains fragile. Somalia and Sudan remain chaotic. Kenya and (most recently Chad) have joined the ranks of unstable regimes. The Comoros continues to grapple with the problem of rebellion in the dissident island of Anjouan. With this atmosphere, arms cross borders unchecked, illegal trade and financial transactions and religious extremism follow along these contours of chaos. This once again highlights the need to reconsider our strategies in fighting terrorism. In Bob Edgar´s words, "its got to be a combination of thoughtful use of money with more aggressive use of intellectual power… where Christians, Jews, Muslims and other faiths and traditions find ways to work together."
Before 9/11, America´s concern over terrorism in Africa was limited mostly to states associated with extreme forms of Islamic fundamentalism. These "state sponsors of terrorism," as Washington branded them, involved Sudan and Libya. However, there is enough evidence today to suggest that the geographical scope of terrorism in Africa is very wide. Some of the most destructive terrorist activities in the 1990s took place on the African continent.
Terrorism in Africa is intricately linked with the political, economic and social dynamics of the continent. Political instability, poverty, disease, hunger, ethnic and religious tensions, porous borders, ineffective and corrupt governments, illiteracy and ignorance are all propitious conditions for the triumph of radicalism which matures into terrorism. This is the environment that has attracted terrorists from the Middle East. Terrorism has a strong presence in north and central Africa which have strong historical, geographical, religious and cultural ties with the Middle East, the cradle of terrorism. Today, Africa is host to terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, Islamic Group, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, AQMI, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Salvation Front, HAMAS, the Abu Nidal organization and others.
Besides the increasing popularity of religious fundamentalism, the myriad of civil wars in Africa and several forms of unrest make this continent a safe haven for terrorists. A recent report by International Action Network on Small Arms, Safer World and Oxfam, on the cost of conflicts in Africa shows that Africa accounts for 38 per cent of the world´s armed confrontations. Between 1990 and 2005, 23 African nations have been involved in armed conflict. Given that this report was published in October 2007, it did not take count of the recent chaos in Kenya and Chad which are the latest developments in the story of political deterioration in the continent. The frequency of such developments is a pointer to the fact that many more African states are on their way to decay. This is the environment that breeds terrorism. To measure the extent of terrorist grip on the continent, it is imperative to take a brief walk round Africa.
Beginning with East Africa, the countries of this region have had to grapple with religious extremism for decades. Somalia, the center of anarchy in east Africa has gone without a central government since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991. The infamous "Black hawk down" incidence in which 18 American soldiers were killed and dragged along the streets of Mogadishu is a sad reminder of the growing influence of terrorists in east Africa. The unending chaos in Somalia has prompted frequent retaliation from Ethiopia (with American backing). Somalia remains divided among radical warlords who draw considerable inspiration and support from nearby terrorists. In 1997 for example, Ethiopians Security forces killed a number of terrorist inside Somalia after several attacks on Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. In 1995, members of the Islamic Group, an Egyptian extremist group tried to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in Addis Ababa. In 2006 Ethiopia made a bold move into Somalia to wipe out the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which was accused for having ties with Al-Qaeda.
Kenya which was once a key ally in America´s war on terror in East Africa is already falling apart. This provides another fertile ground for an increasing number of terrorists in this region. US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were objects of terrorist attacks in 1998. This attack left 213 people dead (12 of them American) and 5000 wounded in Kenya. In Tanzania, 11 people died while 86 were left wounded. The Kenyan government pledged its support to fight terrorism after this attack. It offered strategic sea and air bases for use by US military, and exchanged intelligence information with the US. Kenya closed its borders with Somalia in 2001 alleging the flow of arms from Somalia. This gesture notwithstanding, Kenya´s minority Muslim population is feared for having links with other terrorist groups in east Africa. After the Nairobi bombing, an Islamic group calling itself the Liberation Army of the People of Kenya issued a manifesto supporting these attacks. Four years after the embassy bombings, Al-Qaeda struck again at an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombassa, Kenya, killing 15 people. At the same moment of this attack, it fired missiles at an Israeli passenger jet taking off from Mombassa airport.
Sudan has a long history of harboring terrorists. This country offered sanctuary to Osama bin Laden when he was exiled from Saudi Arabia in 1991. During his five year stay in Sudan, Khartoum became the head quarters of Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden took advantage of the country´s hospitality to exploit many economic opportunities and increase Al-Qaeda´s assets and cash flows. Bin laden was however forced to leave Sudan under pressure from the US which in 1993 had placed Sudan on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Though Sudan condemned the 9/11 attacks, it criticized the US-led invasion of Afghanistan on grounds that it was "unjustified and lacking legitimacy." Still in East Africa, Eritrea and Uganda are countries considered by the US as harboring militant organizations linked to Al-Qaeda.
In North Africa, the specter of terrorism looms far and wide. There is no state in this region which has not experienced terrorism in one form or another, or in one stage or the other. Its proximity to the Middle East and the influence of Islamic radicalism gives this region a "near-monopoly" status in radicalism. In September 2007, Osama Bin Laden´s Chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahri called for Jihad in North Africa to "cleanse (it) of children of France and Spain."
Algeria which has been the scene of regular confrontations between the government and extremists in the 1990s is a showcase of terrorism in North Africa. These regular confrontations between government and radicals had resulted to 100.000 dead and the disappearance of 17.000 others. The most vocal of these extremist groups in Algeria is the Salafist Group for preaching and combat (GSPC). Its avowed enemies are the Algerian government, the "infidel" West, and France in particular.
The GSPC later merged with Al-Qaeda to become the Al-Qaeda pour le Maghreb Islamique-AQMI, led Abou Moussab. This group orchestrated the April II, 2007 attack on an 8-storey government building in Algiers, killing 23 people and wounding 2000 others. Before the world could recover from this shock, Al-Qaeda in North Africa struck again at UN offices and a government building in Algiers killing 26 people and wounding 200 others. This group called the UN offices "the head quarters of International infidels." After these attacks, counter-terrorism officials in France confirmed that the group is drawing members from across North Africa. With the largest number of militants in Africa, Algeria is considered by Washington as one of the sources of funding for Al-Qaeda.
Elsewhere in North Africa, Egypt has also experienced its own share of Al-Qaeda attacks where the Muslim Brotherhood enjoys the blessings of Al-Qaeda. Though with no clear links with Al-Qaeda, Libya has been accused by Washington for supporting other terrorist groups. The Los Angeles Times of May 2004 implicates Morocco in the hashish trade that provided the finances used in the Madrid bombings of 2004. Tunisia which today shines out as a success story in the war on terror in North Africa was the theatre of extreme radicalism in the 1980s. What saved Tunisia was president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali´s brinkmanship and toughness embodied in his policy of "knowing and isolating the enemy," which scared the terrorists.
In West Africa, Nigeria holds a huge potential for breeding terrorism. Ethno-Sectarian violence, disputes arising from attempts to extend the Sharia law beyond the confines of predominantly muslim states of the north are all fertile grounds for militancy. Recurrent battles in the oil-rich Niger Delta region are very common. Western oil interests are primary targets for extremists. Conflicts in the Sahel are all too frequent. The rise of a radical group calling itself the "Nigerian Taliban" is erasing doubts about the drift towards terrorism. In mid 2003, Nigerian state security services arrested some militants with ties to Al-Qaeda in three Northern states. These extremists were apprehended with weapons and explosives.
South Africa, despite its relatively small muslim population has not been spared the scourge of terrorism. One Muslim group calling itself People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) has been linked to violent incidents in the Cape Town area. One of such acts of violence was the August 1998 bombing of the Hollywood restaurant, part of a US chain store. South Africa´s developed infrastructure remains attractive to terrorists seeking a base or at worst a target especially as this country is intensifying cooperation with the US in the fight against terrorism. Khalfan Khamis Mohammed, one of the perpetrators of the 1998 bombings in Kenya successfully sneaked his way through Mozambique into South Africa where he lived and worked until apprehended a year later.
This brief journey across Africa tells one simple story. The entire continent is at the verge of falling into the dragnet of terrorists. It highlights the extent to which the continent has been neglected and points to the futility of what goes by the name "war on terror." Judging by the maxim "a hungry man is an angry man," the entire world is beginning to see how poverty breeds terrorism. This is an important lesson for those engaged in the war on terror.
Turning a blind eye on the deteriorating situation in Africa and focusing on the "militarization of Africa," is far from what Africa needs in this war. The stationing of foreign troops on Africa soil to protect western oil and mineral interests is more of hypocrisy than fighting terrorism. "We need a police effort to go after terrorists, not military effort," says Bob Edgar, President of the pro-poor good government lobby group Common Cause. "We ought to take the money we´re spending on the military and address the needs of the poor domestically and internationally," he said. The frequent unrest and attacks on western oil interest in Nigeria is an indication of the level of frustration among African masses whose wealth is not theirs. These are the grievances which terrorists exploit to implant the ideology of radicalism as a way out of oppression or at least to "martyrdom."
Tunisia today serves as a reference case in the fight against terrorism. President Ben Ali´s "all front war" against terrorism touches on the fundamental roots of extremism. British Prime Minister, Tony Blair recognized the need to "reorder" the world in the fight against terrorism. An obscene world in which Blair´s words, "a billion people lived on less than $1 a day, where injustice and inequality were rampant," had to be reordered.
The conditions for terrorism continue to thrive in Africa. East Africa remains fragile. Somalia and Sudan remain chaotic. Kenya and (most recently Chad) have joined the ranks of unstable regimes. The Comoros continues to grapple with the problem of rebellion in the dissident island of Anjouan. With this atmosphere, arms cross borders unchecked, illegal trade and financial transactions and religious extremism follow along these contours of chaos. This once again highlights the need to reconsider our strategies in fighting terrorism. In Bob Edgar´s words, "its got to be a combination of thoughtful use of money with more aggressive use of intellectual power… where Christians, Jews, Muslims and other faiths and traditions find ways to work together."
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