SHERIF OMAR : The future of Africa To become THE “new Afghanistan.”​

Due to the weakness of al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years,  terrorist networks moved to other regions in the world. With the return of al-Qaeda factions and their appearance in Africa, especially in Somalia, Mali and Nigeria, as well as North Africa, the future of Africa  become the “land of the third generation of al-Qaeda,” Or “new Afghanistan.”

West Africa { traffic without restrictions}

• First I would like to shed light on  the different regions of Africa, it confirms that there is significant overlap between the different regions of the west , north, central, east and south,
•   each region has a selected regional groups , it does not prevent it from easily navigate from one African country to another and from one region to another without restrictions
• I will point out to regional relations between African countries, which it can be understood by referring to the basic African unions, :

ECOWAS Organization : The most powerful organization in West Africa, comprising 15 countries, has  a great range of achievements, such as the unification of passports for all Member States, which facilitated the movement of individuals between the West African States,  travelers has the same citizen’s rights, Great Customs facilities , also the organization was able to unite  currency, and has its own unified military wing who had the authority to intervene in any problem or conflict in any country of the West African States (Member) without direct state permission.

. ECCAS Organization : includes Central African countries.

IGAD Organization In East Africa , which is still weak compared with ECOWAS, due to the  internal problems and tensions between East African countries.

The nature of the West African region has facilitated the spread of terrorist groups and organized crime from one country to another, not to mention the border undisciplined in central and eastern Africa region, it is enough to say that the Sahel-Saharan States where there are no restrictions on the movement of individuals, no controlled border, and no difficulties in moving from one place to another, as well as easy to obtain travel permission and the nationality of one of the 15 ECOWAS organization,  which leads to facilitated the movement of extremist jihadist groups,

Which began mainly in south of Algeria in early nineties of the last century, then moved to both of Sudan and Afghanistan, then comes back again to  the origin, in the south of Algeria and roll into the Sahel and Sahara, which has become one of the largest outposts circle of jihadists in Africa.

• I would like to clarify important issue that the ‘ Arab Spring Revolutions” , especially what happened in Libya has led to an escalation of the activities of these organizations, which are able to transfer different weapons after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, which was owned by his army of mercenaries fled with their armors when  the Western air strikes against Libya started,

Opening a great weapons market  enables the extremists groups across the desert buying and selling weapons , of course the tribal relations has a great influence , especially from the Tuareg, in the exploitation of these events to achieve their objectives in northern Mali .

Similarly, the group Boko Haram benefit from this much open borders, to be able to move from one country to another with ease, and also using its senior members of former Nigerian institutions of governance, to establish strong relationships with different tribes, and exploit the lack of real citizenship is sponsoring the idea of ​respect for the rights of Muslims and their education and identity within Nigeria to turn from the cultural community to organize a terrorist extremist.

Also I would like to mention that the terrorist activities and organized crime in most parts of Africa, especially in the Sahel and Sahara, Has a scary movements for a big amounts of funds from one country to another and from multiple accounts It cannot be traced easily, so it is easy to provide heavy funding of extremist groups .Plus their  control over the rights to oil or precious metals and other mines.

the distribution of terrorist movements in Africa

Islamic movements began mainly in Algeria and worked against French colonialism, fearing the loss of Islam from Algeria , then after independence many Algerian governments  expel the mujahideen who went to Sudan and then to Afghanistan, taking part in the war against the Soviet occupation in the late seventies, and then they returned to Algeria again, in a phenomenon called “the return of the Afghan Arabs.”

The spread of terrorist groups in the Sahel-Sahara region is the result of a combination of many factors, most notably the deterioration of living conditions in African countries, foreign and blatant interference in the affairs of the continent, , and ease of movement between countries and each other, friction many jihadi groups outside the territory in Afghanistan, Sudan and elsewhere, this is in addition to the internal nature, economic, ethnic, tribal, for many countries that promote the secretion of militant organizations, in Mauritania, Algeria, Nigeria, Mali and the rest of the neighboring countries in the west and center.

I believe that jihadist networks stretching from the far West African coast to the far African coast in the east, where the spread of jihadist organizations in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, which was the first areas where foreign and international interventions to combat terrorism on the African continent.

And now permeates the continent of Africa, five high-risk armed terrorist groups, and has links to al-Qaeda & ISIL, namely: “Boko Haram” in Nigeria, and “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” north of the Sahara, and the movement of “Mujahideen Youth” Somali, and the movement of “Ansar al-Din” Salafist jihadist in Mali, and the movement of “Tawhid and Jihad” in West Africa.

Boko Haram: organized in Maiduguri in 2002 ,the name of boko haram  came from the local language (Hausa) meaning “Western education is forbidden” because it is the cause of the spread of corruption in the Muslim community, which means that the group originated against the spread of Western education, which damaged thousands of Muslims who are suffering unemployment and marginalization (as seen MDC supporters), and it includes intellectuals and academics. Hence the face of the government that allowed this, and with the continuation of the state’s reliance on the security track without other violence escalated on the other side so the group turned to the organization of an extremist and violent.

Ansar al-Din group : after the fall of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime in Libya Iyad Ghali returned the national leader who led insurgency on the Government of Mali and he  signed peace deal between his movement and the government of the 1992 Convention and the government sent him as a consul in Jeddah) to the Azawad city, where Ogarga mountain range , and then he began to assemble the Tuareg fighters due to social stature and his clan.

Jihad and Tawhid in West Africa: the movement emerged following the defection of commanders on al Qaeda, and has some of its members to establish a private Brigades fighters of the sons of the Arab tribes in the Azawad like secretively “supporters” of al-Qaeda, which includes Tuareg fighters. And announced its first release movement in October 2011 declared jihad in the largest sector of West Africa, and described as “armed terrorist group the most terrifying in northern Mali.”

Al-Qaeda in  Maghreb: was organized as an extension to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which split from the GIA in 1997, refusing  to  target civilians, and focused work group initially on military sites, but with the US occupation of Iraq, turned to the kidnapping of foreigners, then their business has taken a regional dimension, especially after Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida announcement of an alliance with the Salafist group for Preaching and combat in Algeria, to turn to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Arab Maghreb.

5 Alshabab jihadist Movement in Somalia: the movement emerged, taking advantage of the atmosphere of instability in Somalia, has been attracting supporters  and began to link al-Qaeda with the creation of a number of training camps in the Horn of Africa countries.

In conclusion, I just pointed out that the environment in Africa is valid for the continuation and escalation of the incursion of terrorist movements,

more less it could be the new gate of terrorism against Europe , due to the major links between Africa and Europe .

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