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By Gerrie Swart (1)
The immediate threat and clear and present danger posed by terrorism to the national security interests of both the United States and African states has re-emerged 8 years after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The threat has hardly declined, but the more malignant manifestation of extremism has resurfaced in a country that has maintained notorious links with alleged terrorist organisations in the region since the outbreak of civil war more than 15 years ago. The (failed) state of Somalia has emerged as the prime theatre for the ‘rebirth’ of Al-Qaeda in East Africa and the Horn, and possibly the new continental hub for the organisation’s operations in the rest of Africa as well.
The US, given its disastrous and failed intervention in Somalia in 1993, has in particular repeatedly expressed fears and concerns that Somalia could become a renewed safe-haven in which Al-Qaeda could thrive and gain a considerable stronghold.
In its National Strategy for Combating Terrorism of 2006 the US stressed that:
“We will continue to prevent terrorists from exploiting ungoverned or under-governed areas as safe havens – secure spaces that allow our enemies to plan, organize, train, and prepare for operations. Ultimately, we will eliminate these havens altogether.” (2)
As early as January 2007 the US embarked on adopting a decisive military approach to eliminating the threat of a possible Al-Qaeda presence manifesting in Somalia, when a US Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked suspected Al-Qaeda members in southern Somalia, the first acknowledged operation of this nature since its withdrawal in 1993. (3) In March 2008, the US undertook further determined action by designating the Al-Shabaab a terrorist organisation and in May 2008 carried out a missile strike on a safe house in central Somalia that killed a key leader of the Al-Shabaab, Aden Hashi Ayro. (4)
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Friday, October 2, 2009 at 15:48 