{"id":101408,"date":"2023-04-01T17:05:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T15:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=101408"},"modified":"2023-03-27T16:02:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T14:02:04","slug":"24-05-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=101408","title":{"rendered":"The Islamist Plan to Conquer East Africa: U.S. Missing in Action"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"35%\"><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/19322\/islamists-east-africa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Islamist Plan to Conquer East Africa: U.S. Missing in Action<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>awrence A. Franklin<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<ul class=\"content_preface_bullets\">\n<li><strong>The most potent threat to East African stability remains Al-Shabaab, rooted in Somalia. Al-Qaeda helps to finance Al-Shabaab through its contacts across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Al-Shabaab&#8217;s threat to the American homeland should not be discounted: the group has explored possible scenarios of launching a 9\/11 style assault on the US. Shabaab is assessed by US intelligence as Al-Qaeda&#8217;s wealthiest and largest affiliate.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>If Islamists succeed in establishing an Emirate in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique&#8217;s government could be rendered powerless to combat the spread of radical Islam throughout the country. Using Mozambique as a base of operations, jihadists potentially could export terrorist cells to Indian Ocean island countries such as the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, and ultimately to southern African nations as well.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/1051.jpg\" width=\"100%\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>If Islamists succeed in establishing an Emirate in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique&#8217;s government could be rendered powerless to combat the spread of radical Islam throughout the country. Pictured: Burned and damaged huts in the village of Aldeia da Paz outside Macomia, Mozambique on August 24, 2019. On August 1, 2019, the village was attacked by an Islamist group. (Photo by Marco Longari\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Jihadist terrorism poses an existential challenge to Africa&#8217;s nation-states. While North Africa has been Islamic for a millennium, the Sahel, that part of the continent south of the Sahara, remains&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mei.edu\/publications\/schism-jihadism-sahel-how-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state-are-battling-legitimacy-sahelian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">under siege<\/a>&nbsp;by affiliates of the global Islamist networks, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">France, after a&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/international\/article\/2022\/11\/09\/after-ten-years-france-to-end-military-operation-barkhane-in-sahel_6003575_4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ten-year effort<\/a>, has abandoned its responsibility to safeguard the sovereignty of its former colonies. Consequently, the Sahel&#8217;s counterterrorist mission now rests upon the shoulders of a group of regional states called the &#8220;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/countries\/africa-region\/project-supporting-g5-sahel-joint-force-implementation-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">G5<\/a>&#8221; : Burkina Faso, Chad. Mali. Mauritania, and Niger.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The most potent threat to East African stability remains&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/africa_un-al-shabab-remains-potent-threat-somalia-and-region\/6179293.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al-Shabaab<\/a>, rooted in Somalia. Although Al-Shabaab&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/book\/35091\/chapter-abstract\/299150558?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pledged allegiance<\/a>&nbsp;to Al-Qaeda in 2009, it maintains autonomy for its terrorist operations. Al-Qaeda helps to&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/book\/35091\/chapter-abstract\/299150558?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">finance<\/a>&nbsp;Al-Shabaab through its contacts across the Gulf of Aden in&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/book\/35091\/chapter-abstract\/299150558?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yemen<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Somalia&#8217;s recently re-elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivered a confident New Year&#8217;s address in front of 500 army soldiers who had just returned from training in&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africanews.com\/2022\/12\/21\/first-batch-of-somali-soldiers-returns-from-eritrea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eritrea<\/a>. Mohamud in his address celebrated last year&#8217;s&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/somalia-military-makes-gains-in-large-scale-offensive-against-al-shabab-\/6764305.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">liberation<\/a>&nbsp;by US-trained Somali government troops of large swaths of Somali territory, taken back from Al-Shabaab. Mohamud and Somali defense officials&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/somalia-military-makes-gains-in-large-scale-offensive-against-al-shabab-\/6764305.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">boasted<\/a>&nbsp;that the government forces will defeat al-Shabaab in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Al-Shabaab defiantly responded to Mohamud&#8217;s bravado by taking responsibility for twin suicide bombings on January 4, which&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/twin-bombings-targeting-somalia-s-military-kill-at-least-10\/6903649.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">killed 15 people<\/a>&nbsp;in central Somalia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The resiliency of Al-Shabaab may, in part, be explained by the&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/culturalatlas.sbs.com.au\/somali-culture\/somali-culture-religion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deep faith<\/a>&nbsp;of the Somalis, who were&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.islamic-relief.org.uk\/somalia-a-forgotten-past\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">among the first non-Arabs<\/a>&nbsp;to embrace Islam. Al-Shabaab&#8217;s fortunes have waxed and waned since its emergence from a coalition of Islamic extremist organizations in the mid-2000s. At its zenith, from 2006-2011, Al-Shabaab controlled most of southern and eastern Somalia including the capital of Mogadishu, which it&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/cisac.fsi.stanford.edu\/mappingmilitants\/profiles\/islamic-courts-union\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conquered in 2006.<\/a>&nbsp;Following the establishment of a regional military alliance in 2011, Al-Shabaab was&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/al-shabaab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">driven from Mogadishu<\/a>&nbsp;in August of that year and continues today to surrender additional territory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Al-Shabaab still poses a threat to its neighbors and to Somalia&#8217;s pro-Western government by virtue of its recruitment of foreign volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Ethnic Somalis from Kenya form the&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/national-security-defense\/the-evolution-of-east-african-salafi-jihadism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">largest group<\/a>&nbsp;of non-Somali citizens in Al-Shabaab. Recruits to Al-Shabaab also come from Ethiopia&#8217;s largest ethnic group, the&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/national-security-defense\/the-evolution-of-east-african-salafi-jihadism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oromo<\/a>, who are predominately Muslim. Al-Shabaab purchases&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/al-shabab-collects-millions-to-spend-on-weapons-report\/6452825.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">weapons<\/a>&nbsp;on the black market and arms traders and receives some arms from Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen. Al-Shabaab raises large amounts from&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/al-shabab-collects-millions-to-spend-on-weapons-report\/6452825.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">extortion fees<\/a>&nbsp;taken from businesses and toll charges on trucks passing through its many checkpoints in Somalia. Al-Shabaab continues to demonstrate its ability to launch terrorist operations throughout Somalia, and also has conducted operations inside member-states of the counter-terrorism force, the African Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), including&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/al-shabaab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kenya and Uganda.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Al-Shabaab&#8217;s threat to the American homeland should not be discounted: the group has explored possible scenarios of launching a&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/kenyan-national-indicted-conspiring-hijack-aircraft-behalf-al-qaeda-affiliated-terrorist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">9\/11 style assault<\/a>&nbsp;on the US. Al-Shabaab is assessed by US intelligence as Al-Qaeda&#8217;s&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/zawahiris-death-and-whats-next-al-qaeda\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wealthiest and largest affiliate<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Uganda also is now combatting a jihadist threat from the &#8220;Allied Democratic Forces&#8221; (ADF). These Islamists are aligned with the&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/blogs\/examining-extremism\/examining-extremism-allied-democratic-forces\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Islamic State&#8217;s Central African Province<\/a>. Some ADF cells have&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.securitycouncilreport.org\/whatsinblue\/2022\/10\/great-lakes-region-briefing-and-consultations-3.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">moved<\/a>&nbsp;across Uganda&#8217;s border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo&#8217;s North Kivu Province.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The most recent jihadist threat to stability in East Africa has emerged in the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The epicenter of this Islamic insurgency is in Mozambique&#8217;s northernmost province of&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crisisgroup.org\/africa\/east-and-southern-africa\/mozambique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cabo Delgado<\/a>. Ansar al-Sunnah is an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group which has&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crisisgroup.org\/africa\/southern-africa\/mozambique\/303-stemming-insurrection-mozambiques-cabo-delgado\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">massacred<\/a>&nbsp;about ,3000 people, mostly civilians, while displacing hundreds of thousands of mostly Christian citizens. Ansar&#8217;s center of gravity is the Mozambican port of&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2020\/8\/13\/rebels-seize-port-in-gas-rich-northern-mozambique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mocimboa da Praia<\/a>&nbsp;where offshore oil and gas deposits await foreign investment dependent on the security situation. Ansar raises its own finances to buy weapons from heroin trafficking networks and ivory-poaching as well as funds generated from fees they&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/maritime-executive.com\/editorials\/how-weak-maritime-enforcement-emboldened-ansar-al-sunna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">charge<\/a>&nbsp;traffickers along Mozambique&#8217;s coast. Ansar draws indigenous followers. in part, from the teachings of Kenyan extremist Imams who helped radicalize the mostly&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/south-africa-sending-fresh-troops-to-mozambique-to-fight-islamist-insurgents-\/6454195.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Muslim Macua and Muani peoples<\/a>&nbsp;in Cabo Delgado. Mozambique&#8217;s Ansar also has spread jihadist cells to&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/blog\/separatism-salafism-militancy-swahili-coast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tanzania.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Counter-terrorist assistance is being extended to Mozambique by South Africa, which has&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/south-africa-sending-fresh-troops-to-mozambique-to-fight-islamist-insurgents-\/6454195.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dispatched troops<\/a>&nbsp;to fight the jihadists. Unfortunately, Ansar seems determined to establish an Islamic Emirate in Cabo Delgado, governed by Sharia law. If they succeed, Mozambique&#8217;s government could be rendered powerless to combat the spread of radical Islam throughout the country. Using Mozambique as a base of operations, jihadists potentially could export terrorist cells to Indian Ocean island countries such as the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, and ultimately to southern African nations as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin<\/strong> was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Islamist Plan to Conquer East Africa: U.S. Missing in Action awrence A. Franklin The most potent threat to East African stability remains Al-Shabaab, rooted in Somalia. Al-Qaeda helps to finance Al-Shabaab through its contacts across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen. Al-Shabaab&#8217;s threat to the American homeland should not be discounted: the group has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101408"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101600,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101408\/revisions\/101600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}