Kenyan security forces have launched an operation to oust al-Shabab militants from the Boni Forest, along the Kenya-Somalia border. Officials say the group has established camps in the forest to attack targets in Kenya.

Kenyan officials say about 300 al-Shabab fighters are hiding in the Boni Forest. The government blames those fighters for deadly attacks in parts of coastal and northeastern Kenya.

The operation is Kenya’s third major offensive against al-Shabab.

In October 2011, Kenyan forces launched an operation to secure its borders after months of cross-border incursions by the Islamist militants. In 2012, Kenyan troops retook the Somali port city of Kismayo from al-Shabab.

Kenya’s interior cabinet secretary, Joseph Ole Nkaissery, was present for the start of the current offensive Saturday. “I have been sent by the president to launch this operation to make sure that there is peace and security in Boni Forest,” he said.

Residents vacate

A week earlier, the government ordered those living in the forest to vacate the area. According to Kenyan media, 3,000 people so far have followed the order.

One man who lives in the area, however, said residents feel abandoned.

“The government told us to leave the forest and we [were] not told where to go, now we have left and we don’t know where we are going,” said the Boni resident.

The government has assured the residents they will get the assistance they need.

Security analyst Andrew Franklin said a tough battle awaits Kenyan forces since the forest covers more than 100 square kilometers.

“The operation, even if it was properly resourced, which it is not, it will be very difficult. The fact is that Boni forest is large,” said Franklin. “It also straddles the border with Somalia, which indicates that either we are going to coordinate the operation with the Somali national army, who are thin on the ground or we are going to cross the border at will.”

Increased terror attacks

Kenya has faced increased terror attacks since it ramped up operations against al-Shabab — most notably the assaults on Westgate Mall in 2013 and Garissa University College in April of this year.

According to government figures, more than 400 people overall have been killed by the al-Qaida-linked militants.

Homeland Security expert Richard Tuta said al-Shabab is finding it easier to operate in Kenya than in Somalia.

“On the Somali side, the KDF have managed to put al-Shabab on the run, but when you come to homeland security in Kenya itself, it is that al-Shabab have managed to be on the move. In Somalia they are on the run, but in Kenya they are on the move because of the conducive environment,” said Tuta.

The operation to clear Boni Forest is planned to take about three months, but security experts say it could take longer.

An alert has been called in Ghana over ISIS recruiting youths, reported Global Risk Insights.

It said youngsters in the majority Muslim population in the north could be recruited because of the unstable conditions in north-east Nigeria, on the border with Chad and Niger, caused by the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group.

Unemployment remains high in Ghana, especially among the young, although it is one of the most stable nations in Africa and has a fast-growing economy.
The study says potential recruits are enticed by Islamic State’s promise of a “lavish lifestyle in Syria and Iraq” and better living conditions for family left behind.

They quote the example of Mohammed Nazir Nortei Alema, 25, a Geography undergraduate in the prestigious Kwame Nkrumah University, who left Ghana to embrace the cause of ISIS.

Nigerian troops have rescued a dozen of women and children earlier kidnapped by Boko Haram in the northeast region of the country, the army headquarters said on Tuesday.

The rescued women and children were freed from Boko Haram’s bondage during an operation early Tuesday, a statement signed by army spokesman, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, said.

Troops advanced Tuesday to clear all known Boko Haram terrorists camps toward Banki, Kumshe and Bama axis in the Nigerian state of Borno, further securing a “very important bridge linking the towns of Miyanti and Banki” said the army statement.

“The clearance by ground troops and aerial bombardments by the Nigerian Air Force continues till we reach the desired objective of defeating the terrorists,” the statement added.

Nigerian troops have recently stepped up their game to defeat Boko Haram, a terror group which has proved to be a hard nut to crack in the last six years.

Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on an official visit to France – where he will also seek support of the French government in the fight against Boko Haram, has ordered military chiefs of the West African country to crush the terror group latest by December.

The terrorist group has recently resorted to burning villages, looting food and cattle, using suicide bombers and slaughtering their victims. The latest attack was Sunday.

Young men armed with machetes and knives are joining together to protect the town of Kolofata on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria from Boko Haram insurgents. They are responding to calls by Cameroon’s Defence Minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o for more vigilante committees to be created.

“Boko [Haram] is becoming a serious nuisance, menacing the population more than ever before with the use of suicide bombers, burning and looting. I am asking all Cameroonians especially in border zones to be members of vigilante committees and collaborate with the military to make sure that this new forms of Boko Haram attacks are stopped,” said Mebe Ngo’o.

Lives saved

The plea came after suicide bomb attacks that left 9 people dead and 24 wounded in Kolofata. The governor of Far North Cameroon Midjiyawa Bakari said there should have been more casualties but a local vigilante group detected two male teenagers and a 12 year old girl, all suicide bombers.

“I am congratulating the vigilante committee whose courage reduced the shock of the Boko Haram attack and I am inviting every one to emulate their example. The government’s message for everyone to contribute in crushing the terrorist group is being adhered to and Cameroon’s president Paul Biya is happy,” said Bakari.

Kolofata, has been repeatedly targeted by the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group. Ahmidou Fouman said that is the reason he joined one of the vigilante committees to report all suspects and watch out for strange faces visiting their town.

“The latest success story we had was on Sunday when we detected two strange teenage boys and a girl dressed like a Muslim in our town. They pretended to be fetching water from a stream and when some members of our group went to search them, the girl detonated a bomb killing some of us. Many more people would have died should the suicide bombers have had access to the market, church and mosque they targeted,” said Fouman.

Attacks on the rise

In the seven attacks reported in recent days, 24 people, including 15 assailants, were killed, 40 injured and 15 attackers arrested.

The assailants were killed as the attempted to seize the military base at Balgaram near the northern border with Nigeria. Cameroonian soldiers said they captured 15 others and seized guns. The low amount of ammunition seized suggests that supplies are running low since Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Benin and Niger started blocking possible supply roads.

In other villages the attackers stole hundreds of cattle and food. Residents say the assailants had guns with no ammunition but used knives and swords to kill or wound their victims.

The attack came one day after Major General Iliya Abbah, the Nigerian commander of a five-nation regional force set up to fight Boko Haram, concluded a visit to the Mora military base in northern Cameroon, where 2,500 troops are installed. The force is headquartered in Chad and will draw on troop contributions from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger.

The Nigerian general described the wave of attacks that have rocked the area of late as the last kicks of a dying horse. He also invited the public to assist soldiers in the fight as the attackers have now resorted to burning houses and stealing for survival.

“Our leaders sat down and thought it wise that we should not allow this madness to continue, our economic and social activities must continue against the attitude of those terrorist called Boko Haram,” said Abbah. “So we cannot continue to fold our arms and allow this madness to continue. We will work with you to ensure that peace is back in our sub region.”

Proper supervision

Jimam Lar, a junior fellow at Bayreuth International Graduate School of Social Sciences, believes that such vigilante groups could prove vital in the fight against Boko Haram if there is proper supervision on the part of the government.

“The army is trying to mobilize the population to support their efforts,” said Lar. “They are very critical in terms of local information and collaboration with the state.”

Lar believes it is too early to know whether or not these groups will have continued success as they did over the weekend. But he stressed that is not the job of such groups to fight Boko Haram.

“The primary responsibility of fighting an insurgency is that of the armed forces,” said Lar.

The military has said the new strategies being employed by its new leaders have started yielding positive results with scores of terrorists surrendering to troops engaged in the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in the North-east tagged: ‘Operation Lafiya Dole.’

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying that more terrorists and fighters are willing to surrender to the Nigerian military.

Usman listed the new strategies employed to include sustained offensive operations, pre-emptive air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF)  and routes blocking by ground troops all geared towards constricting and snuffing out the Boko Haram terrorists.

He said: “Many of the terrorists that willingly surrendered painted images of mass panic and hysteria among their erstwhile colleagues who are feeling the noose tightening on their necks with the relentless efforts of troops and renewed vigour in operations inspired by the personal leadership of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

“Terrorists also seem to have an inkling of what happens to surrendered suspects as regards screening and de-radicalisation of innocent ones among them.”

Usman assured that the Nigerian Army in conjunction with the NAF and other security agencies would continue to devise and implement effective strategies to bring Boko Haram terrorism to a speedy end.

It will also continue, he added, to receive surrendering suspects and assured innocent ones among them that surrender is the only option open to them.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to also appreciate the great support and information it receives from well meaning citizens,” he said.

The army spokesman noted that more of the public support “are required to help towards quicker obliteration of the Boko Haram scourge in our nation.”
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the fight against corruption was for the soul of the country.

He also said Boko Haram insurgents had been sufficiently weakened that they no longer have the capacity to occupy the North-east geo-political zone or any other party of the country.

Buhari, who was represented by Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo, spoke while addressing the second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, Igwuruta, near Port Harcourt.
The meeting was also attended by Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike; Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Uche; and the Archbishop, Province of Niger Delta (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey.

The president said: “Our fight against corruption is not just a moral battle of virtue and righteousness in our land, but it is a fight for the soul and substance of our nation. Corruption in our country is  so endemic that it constitutes a parallel system.

“It is the primary reason for poor policies, wastages and bare-faced theft of public resources. It is the main  reason why a potentially prosperous country now struggles to feed itself and provide jobs for millions of its people.

“Hundreds of thousands of infant and maternal mortality statistics, hundreds of thousands of deaths from communicable diseases are traceable to the greed and corruption of a few.”

He said two-third of Nigerians live in extreme poverty, saying the country must
trail the paradigm of thinking about the economy.

His words: “We must trail the paradigm of thinking about our economy, and the ultimate goal of the majority. For one that will create an enabling environment for enterprises, we must reason, plan and budget with the understanding that two-third of Nigerians are poor. They must be helped, first to survive, and then, fully participate in the economy of the nation.

“Consequently, we must create tenets for the very poor and vulnerable while ensuring that social spending also resurrects investments in the economy. We must invest substantially in relevant education; teachers training and vocational and entrepreneurial training.

“The country is today experiencing its worst economic situation in decades. A terrible combination of waste, corruption and severe down turn in all earnings have drastically reduced our esteemed resources. We must urgently now find it in investing in infrastructure and all crucial components in the medium and long term means of diversifying our economy. Meanwhile, we must block all leakages and improve on our revenue base.”

The president stated that the military is now using vigilance and local intelligence to make it impossible for fighters of Boko Haram to regroup in the North-east or any other part of the country.

He said: “On security, we are on course to militarily route Boko Haram and make them incapable of taking over any territory. Suicide bombings in some parts of the North-east are desperate acts of terrorists to create a sense that they are still in play. But, with vigilance and local intelligence, we will make these cowardly acts practically impossible.

“We must however now turn our attention to the enormous task of de-radicalisation and re-orientation of the young people who had been led to believe in the rhetorics of Boko Haram. Part of the task that we have is in deconstructing the hopeless socio-economic circumstances that made young men and women rebel against their own society when they cannot see a future for themselves.”

Earlier in his opening address, President of CBCN, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, expressed the hope that with a new administration in power, Nigeria’s wasted opportunities will be recovered.

Kaigama, who is also the Archbishop of Jos, said: “As a Church, we continue to pray and preach that Nigerians should be altruistic and patriotic rather than being selfish and narcissistic. The tendency to promote, defend, and protect narrow personal economic, regional and religious interests have been responsible for our unstable national journey of one step forward and many steps backward.

“With the new administration in our nation, we have another window of opportunity and we hope we shall achieve the positive change that has become a national mantra. Our wasted opportunities must be recovered.”

thisdaylive.com

Ghana is ‘surrounded’ by other West African countries where the Islamic State group has a presence: Nigeria, Niger, and Chad. Following the news of the recruitment of Ghanaian youths by the Islamic State, what used to be a distant threat is now knocking at the door.

Islamic State’s principal aim is to establish a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law. Foreigners seem to be the target of IS propaganda and messaging. For instance, ISIS celebrated the 2014 Eid al-Fitr with a special greeting to the Muslim world. These messages are usually released in many languages, including in English, French, and German, and other languages.

Red Flag

Prior to the news of Twenty-five year old Nazir Alema Nortey and Rafiq travelling to join the Islamic State, Ghana had a reputation of being one of the very few stable and established democracies in Africa. Whereas employment has been relatively low in Ghana, there is potential for increased unemployment given that macro-economic growth has dropped below the average of at least 8% since 2013 and currently stands at 3.9 per cent.

Ghana now looks to the International Monetary Fund for macro-economic stability under an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.

Poverty Plays a Role

While youths from both rich and the poor backgrounds are known to have been recruited by IS, ‘the recruits’ are purportedly promised luxurious lives when they get to Syria and Iraq, as well as assurance of quality life for their immediate family members back at home. This is an offer Ghanaian young men and young women are finding difficult to refuse, especially youths from the majority: northern Ghanaian Muslims.

Boko Haram in the Picture

In accepting Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance, an Islamic State spokesperson, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, stated on Thursday, March 12th that the objective of creating a caliphate has been extended to West Africa, urging Muslims to join militants in the region.

The Islamic State’s recruits from Ghana are believed to have journeyed to Nigeria to receive training at a Boko Haram training camp in Niger before traveling to Turkey or Syria.

Boko Haram gained worldwide notoriety in April 2014 when it kidnapped almost 300 schoolgirls from Government Girls Second School dormitory in Chibok, Borno state. In March 2015, Boko Haram posted a message pledging its allegiance to Islamic State.

Three Ghanaian students are believed to have travelled to join IS. Ghana’s National Security Coordinator stated that students at various Ghanaian universities had been targeted by the Islamic State. What is disturbing, however, is that the statement allegedly made by the National Security Coordinator that not many Ghanaians have travelled to join the Islamic State therefore “there was no need to be petrified.”

Northeast Nigeria, Niger, and Chad may continue to facilitate massive recruitment of Ghanaian youths for IS, serving as training grounds and travel routes.

Ghana, like many other Africa countries, does not have anti-terrorism processes. Fears about IS threats are now running high in Ghana, with the possibility of radicalized youths returning home someday.

It will be in the interest of Ghana’s national security to work with its West African neighbours on how to fashion and develop effective anti-terrorism processes, as well as curtailing IS’ recruitment of African youths, beginning with President Buhari’s official visit to Accra on Monday, September 7th.

globalriskinsights.com

Unidentified attackers ambushed a police post in the central Mopti region of Mali, killing two police officers standing guard, an army spokesperson said.

The attack, the latest in a series in the area, may indicate that a new armed group that has emerged there still has the ability to strike despite arrests among its leaders this week.

“This afternoon at around 17:00 GMT, unidentified armed men opened fire on two police officers at the Ouekoro post in the Bankass circle,” said army spokesman Colonel Souleymane Maiga.

“The two police officers were killed,” he added.

Mali’s military said on Monday it had arrested three suspected members of a new Islamist militant group The Massina Liberation Front blamed for attacks in Mali’s centre and south this year. It is led by veteran jihadist Amadou Koufa and has recruited mostly among the central Mali’s marginalised Fulani ethnic minority.

Formerly, Islamist militant groups were mostly confined to the desert north which they briefly seized in 2012. A French-led military intervention scattered them the following year, but remnants of the insurgency continue to carry out attacks in remote areas.

Taiwan on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) that will allow for the establishment of a Maritime Communications Initiative, a new communications network to increase maritime safety along the Somali coast.

The MOU was signed in Brussels by Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷), Taiwan’s representative to the EU and Belgium, and James Burnell-Nugent, senior fellow of OBP, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the recommendation of the European Union, Taiwan has provided OBP with a grant of US$166,000 for the Maritime Communications Initiative. The donation will be used to establish maritime security centers in five Somali ports over a two-year period to enhance maritime communications in Somalia, the ministry said.

OBP is a project of the One Earth Future Foundation, a privately funded and independent non-profit organization based in the United States.

OBP has been working with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, EUCAP Nestor (a European mission to enhance the maritime capacities of countries in the Horn of Africa), UN Food and Agriculture Organization, EU Naval Force, and US African Command to improve awareness of maritime security and maritime communications capacity across Somalia, the ministry said.

Taiwan’s donation will help OBP supply communications equipment and sustainable power options to the five maritime security centers and collaborate with the above partners to ensure maritime security, the ministry said.

Cameroon and Mali on Tuesday concluded a review of a 50-year agreement on free movement of people and goods between the two countries because of the threat posed by Nigeria’s islamist sect Boko Haram.

The review affects the agreement on exemption of visa for travellers from the two countries which was signed on May 6, 1964 in Bamako.

“The policy enabled a Malian who lived in Cameroon, just like a Cameroonian who lived in Mali, to enjoy the same rights as the nationals of that country,” Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told Xinhua on Tuesday in Yaounde.

Due to the agreement, Cameroon today hosts on its territory about 20,000 Malians, and some 4,000 Cameroonians live in Mali, Cameroon’s foreign affairs ministry estimates.

“It is evident that there are some challenges facing Cameroon today, especially at the regional level, which makes it necessary for the country to review some of its legislations. We understand the challenges Cameroon is facing and we want to be of help in this regard. Just like we have a feeling our Cameroonian brothers have understood the constraints faced by Mali,” Diop affirmed.

He was alluding to the jihadist threat to the security and stability in the two African countries.

Cameroon’s Foreign Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo recalled that a Cameroonian delegation visited Bamako in February this year to hold talks on the need to “review some agreements during the establishment of the existing bilateral relations between Mali and Cameroon.”

In the new agreement, he said, everything has been done to preserve the achievements, so that our special relationship can continue.

“Some modalities have changed, especially with regards to the demand for an entry visa for the personal category,” Mbonjo explained.

According to his Malian counterpart, “the personal visa will be given in more friendly conditions and it will be made accessible to our citizens. But there will be exceptions for holders of diplomatic and service passports.”

The coming into force of the new agreement will also see Cameroon open its consulate in Bamako and it will result into the transfer of Mali’s honorary consulate in Douala, Cameroon’s commercial capital, to the capital Yaounde.

Further, the two countries also plan to hold the long awaited meeting of their Joint Bilateral Cooperation Commission and sign another agreement for reciprocal promotion and protection of investments.