CNN, 27 April 2010: The arrest of 24 alleged al Qaeda activists in Morocco has cast a rare spotlight on Islamic extremism in north-west Africa, a phenomenon that is troubling both the region’s governments and western intelligence agencies.
Morocco says it detained the al Qaeda group in a sweep that focused on the sprawling port city of Casablanca. Others arrested are from the towns of Birrichid and Kenitra, according to Association Annassir – a group that represents Islamist detainees in Morocco. Four had previously served prison terms for militant activity, the Association said. The Interior Ministry alleged in a statement on Monday that the group was “preparing to carry out assassinations and acts of sabotage within the country, notably targeting the security services and foreign interests in Morocco.”
Officials allege the group was also recruiting other Moroccans to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s not known whether any of those detained has been formally charged. Abderrahim Mouhtad, head of the Association Annassir, says three of the group appear to have spent several months in Kenya recently, and were followed by the security forces when they returned to Casablanca. Just what they were doing in Kenya is unclear, but the country is sometimes used by Islamic extremists as a conduit to Somalia. . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 268–Jihadi Strategies in Africa
Fox News, 9 April 2010: Al Qaeda has put the American and British soccer teams directly in its crosshairs, circulating word online that the athletes are prime targets for an attack at the World Cup Games in South Africa in June — and the State Department has been providing South African police with extensive training in an effort to prevent a catastrophe at the most-watched sporting event in the world.
The threats from Al Qaeda target a range of teams competing at the World Cup, but the June 12 USA vs. England match, scheduled for live broadcast, is the terrorists’ top priority, according to threats published in an online Jihadist magazine.
“The game … is broadcast live. The stadium is full of a Crusader audience while the sound of a blast shocks the stands and turns the stadium on its head. God willing, there will [be] dozens and hundreds of casualties. 50 grams alone are sufficient for such an operation,” reads a post on the online magazine. . . .
. . . . The threat could be a signal to potential supporters in South Africa to target the American and British teams and their fans, says Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It is a large event, thousands of people in the arena and millions of viewers worldwide,” Phares said. “Also the soccer players are famous, and if harmed it would multiply the psychological effects worldwide.” . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 268–Jihadi Strategies in Africa
AFP, 7 Jan 10: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Shebab fighting for the control of Somalia, or Nigeria’s homegrown sects — radical Islam is taking hold in sub-Saharan Africa, albeit in many varied forms. The groups in question all claim to be inspired by the Taliban or al Qaeda, which carried out its first major operations on African soil — the 1998 simultaneous truck bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people, most of them Africans.
AQIM, commanded from Algeria, operates in the vast Sahel region where it has staged multiple kidnappings, and in some cases killings, of Westerners over the past three years.
Somalia’s Shebab are trying to impose its brand of Shariah law on war-torn Somalia. In recent months, it has multiplied suicide attacks aimed at toppling the United Nations-backed transitional government.
Nigeria, where 12 northern states reintroduced Islamic law in 2000, is in the spotlight after the son of one of the country’s prominent bankers was charged with trying on Dec. 25 to blow up a passenger jet over Detroit.
In July, Boko Haram, a Taliban-inspired sect whose name means “Western education is a sin” and which seeks to unite Muslims under a Caliphate, carried out simultaneous attacks in four northern states. . . . .
CI Centre Course–268: Jihadi Strategies in Africa
AFP, 2 Jan 10: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Shebab fighting for the control of Somalia, or Nigeria’s home-grown sects — radical Islam is taking hold in sub-Saharan Africa, albeit in many varied forms.
The groups in question all claim to be inspired by the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, which carried out its first major operations on African soil — the 1998 simultaneous truck bomb attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in which several hundred people died.
AQIM, commanded from Algeria, operates in the vast Sahel region where it has staged multiple kidnappings, and in some cases killings, of Westerners over the last three years.
Somalia’s Shebab are trying to impose their brand of Sharia law on war-torn Somalia. In recent months they have multiplied suicide attacks aimed at toppling the UN-backed transitional government.
Nigeria, where 12 northern states reintroduced Islamic law in 2000, is in the spotlight after the son of one of the country’s prominent bankers was charged with trying on December 25 to blow up a passenger jet over Detroit.
In July Boko Haram, a Taliban-inspired sect whose name means “Western education is a sin” and which seeks to unite Muslims under a Caliphate, carried out simultaneous attacks in four northern states.
“Some Islamist groups in sub-Saharan Africa have recently become more radicalized, particularly in terms of inflammatory rhetoric and a few recruits for armed jihad,” Fawaz A. Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics and international relations at the London School of Economics (LSE), told AFP.
There are also some signs of cross-fertilisation between different groups. . . . .
Haaretz, 23 Dec 09: The government’s counterterrorism unit warned Israelis on Wednesday against traveling to a swathe of African countries in which it said Al-Qaida planned to abduct Israeli nationals.
“Information has been received that the organization intends to perpetrate attacks, especially abduction attacks, including against Israelis, in the various Sahel countries in Africa,” said the Counter Terrorism Bureau in a travel advisory.
The bureau, which is part of the Prime Minister’s Office, said the warning was relevant to the following countries: Ivory Coast, Togo, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Nigeria. . . .
