The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Garbai Elkanemi, has lamented that 13 district heads and several ward heads (Bulamas) have been killed in his emirate at the peak of the ongoing crisis by the Boko Haram terrorist group, like reported by punchng.com.

The monarch made the disclosure in Maiduguri during a courtesy visit by a delegation of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, led by Senator Abubakar Yusuf, who were in Borno State to assess the performance of the North-East Development Commission.

Elkanemi lamented that the decade-old crisis had also displaced thousands of people, who were now taking refuge in displaced persons’ camps across the state.

He claimed that the crisis started in the state in July 2009 following a disagreement between the Izala and Yusufiya Islamic sects.

Elkanemi lamented that the crisis later snowballed into attacks on police stations and stealing of ammunition from police formations.

He said, “Gradually, they moved their operations from Maiduguri to local government headquarters and other towns within Borno. In the course of their operations, the emirate council lost about 13 district heads in addition to many ward heads, who were killed in their respective domains.

“The activities of the criminal elements have not deterred our district and village heads from being proactive in reporting their activities to the security agencies.”

The monarch called on the Federal Government to channel more funds to the NEDC, considering the huge humanitarian crisis created by Boko Haram terrorists, who destroyed private and public structures across the state.

“I want to call for more funding for the commission to enable it facilitate the reconstruction of destroyed communities and intervention programmes toward empowering all IDPs. The call became necessary in view of the huge destruction and losses incurred in the state as a result of the crises in the last 11 years,” he stated.

Elkanemi commended the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.,) and members of the National Assembly for establishing the NEDC to address the massive humanitarian crises in the North-East. Yusuf commended the state government for prioritising the welfare of displaced persons as well as other peace building efforts aimed at bringing lasting peace to the state.

He gave an assurance that with the current efforts in the military’s counter insurgency operation, the crises would soon become a thing of the past.

He explained that the delegation was in the state for an on-the-spot assessment of the activities of the NEDC within the last one year.

Men of the Nigerian Army from the 177 Battalion and the command Army Records Lokoja, with supports from local vigilante, have cleared the camp of Darusallam, a terror group that has been carrying out its heinous operations on the border between Kogi and Nasarawa States for over eight years, like reported by dailypost.ng.

Darusallam camp, it was gathered, located at Ittu, houses over 2,000 kidnappers, bandits and Boko Haram elements responsible for most of the kidnappings and criminal activities perpetrated along the Abuja-Lokoja highway.

During the military clearing operations, it was gathered that one of the suspects was shot dead while attempting to escape.

Between last Saturday and Wednesday, about 100 persons, mostly women and
children, were rescued and taken to Lafia Nasarawa State, while on Sunday, at Achara in Tawari Ward of Kogi Local Government Area, about 180 members of Darusalam were captured.

Recal that the governor of Kogi State and Chairman, Security Committee, Northern Governors’ Forum, during Eid-kabir celebration, told journalists in Okene that in days ahead, he will lead security operatives into the forest to unleash terrors on criminals operating within the State.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Kogi State Governor, Onogwu Mohammed, in a press statement issued to DAILY POST on Monday morning said “motorists plying the Abuja/Lokoja highway can now heave a sigh of relief following the deadly blow dealt to kidnappers and criminal elements that have been terrorizing travelers on that axis for sometimes now.

“The logistics supports of the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello to the Nigerian Army helped in no small measure in the success recorded by men of the Nigerian Army in this latest operation”.

Jihadists have killed 14 people on a Cameroonian island on Lake Chad near the border with Nigeria after their town decided to block food supplies to the insurgents, security sources said Thursday according to thedefensepost.com.

Fighters from the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) landed on the island of Bulgaram aboard speedboats from an enclave on the Nigerian side late Tuesday, they said.

“They came around 6:30 pm (1830 GMT) while people were preparing for evening prayers and shot dead 14 community leaders,” a security source told AFP.

Some of the victims were shot in their homes while others were killed in the mosque where they had gone to pray, said another source, who gave a similar toll.

The assault was launched after the town — a major logistical route for ISWAP jihadists on the Nigerian side of the lake — decided to cut off food supplies for the jihadists.

In recent days, local chiefs had invoked the Koran at a town hall meeting and placed a curse on any resident allowing supplies to the jihadists.

The insurgents viewed the decision as a betrayal and a show of support for the local authorities.

The past week has seen several Nigerian air raids on ISWAP strongholds that have inflicted heavy casualties, according to military and local sources.

“The terrorists believe the blockade is part of the ongoing military operation aimed at starving them while they are under bombardment,” a source added.

The Lake Chad area is a vast marshy area shared by Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad.

Western parts of the lake have become havens for Nigerian jihadists, whose 10-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The United States military says it killed six al-Shabab extremists with an airstrike in Somalia after the al-Qaida-linked group attacked Somali forces while U.S. forces were nearby, like reported by abcnews.go.com.

The U.S. Africa Command statement said Monday’s airstrike was carried out near Darasalam village in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region after al-Shabab fighters attacked from a building in the area. The statement said three al-Shabab fighters were wounded.

No U.S. forces were killed or wounded, the statement said, dismissing an al-Shabab claim of U.S. casualties. Somalia’s government in a separate statement said the U.S. forces were there to advise and assist local ones.

Al-Shabab remains the most active Islamic extremist group in Africa, and the U.S. under President Donald Trump has increased the number of airstrikes against it. The U.S. Africa Command calls the group a “danger to Africa and the United States.”

In January, al-Shabab killed a U.S. service member and two U.S. contractors in an attack on a military airstrip in neighboring Kenya. It was al-Shabab’s first attack against U.S. forces in that country, and the group quickly shared online images of masked fighters standing next to blazing aircraft.

The U.S. military has since stepped up its warnings about al-Shabab’s increasingly sophisticated use of propaganda.

Boko Haram insurgents killed more than 70 members of a community overnight in northeastern Nigeria, local media reported Wednesday according to aa.com.tr.

Ali Ndume, a senator and chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, said at a program he was attending in Maiduguri that members of the terrorist group killed 75 elderly people in the town of Gwoza in Borno state.

Noting that the people of Gwoza are in danger due to attacks by the terrorist group, Ndume said that “even as a senator, I still can’t go to Gwoza because it’s not safe.”

The security forces do their utmost in the region, but people die there every day and the situation is very bad in the area, he said.

He said that apart from the attacks, the people of the region faced hunger and that the situation would worsen if there were no NGOs.

More than 50,000 civilians and security personnel have been killed and about 3 million people displaced in over a decade of Boko Haram terror attacks in the country’s northeast.

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on Tuesday it had carried out an airstrike against a senior leader of the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab.

According to a news release, AFRICOM carried out an airstrike near the southern Somali town of Saakow, in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, which it said was believed to have killed one terrorist.

The Germany-based command announced just five days earlier another airstrike targeting another member of al-Shabaab alleged to have been making explosives to be placed by roadsides. That strike was assessed not to have killed any civilians, just as the Tuesday attack was.
AFRICOM is required to print quarterly reports on its operations, evaluating attacks for possible civilian casualties; however, the US’ method of authorizing such airstrikes leaves little to no consideration for possible civilian casualties, just the possibility of killing the targeted militant, so such immediate casualty assessments are worth little.

The US’ undeclared war in Somalia is justified by the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), which gave broad power to the Pentagon to stage attacks against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, such as al-Shabaab, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

According to the Tuesday release, AFRICOM coordinated the airstrike with the Somali government in Mogadishu.

Since 2015, al-Shabaab has not controlled any major city, but it is still able to exert influence in the countryside, particularly the coastal Lower Shabelle region, where the authority of the central government remains weak after decades of civil war.

Somalia’s militant group al-Shabaab has increased raids in Mogadishu, taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic, like reported by nation.co.ke.

The group has launched fewer attacks outside Somalia in 2020 even though those in the country have been deadly.

Analysts at the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi, however, say the pandemic coupled with intensified targets have reduced room for manoeuvre.

UN Secretary General Special Representative to Somalia James Swan on Thursday told the Security Council that attacks in Mogadishu have risen significantly since the Covid-19 was declared in the country.

“We are witnessing a worrying upsurge in al-Shabaab attacks in Mogadishu and several other regions,” Swan said.

“The vicious attack on innocent civilians at Elite Hotel on August 16…is a tragic reminder of the continued imperative to improve security in Somalia.”

The attack on the hotel left eight people dead and injured 30 others.

Al-Shabaab fighters first detonated a car bomb before storming the hotel in a siege that lasted four hours. The Somali National Army (SNA) later said all the attackers were killed. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.

According to a report released this month by the UN Secretary General, there have been roughly 75 terrorist incidents every month since Covid-19 was reported in Somalia.

Most of the incidents were killings and shootings, explosions and few mortar attacks.

Lost territory

While the raids mainly targeted African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) and local security forces in Hiraan, Shabelle Dhexe and Banadir, the group also lost territory.

The “Situation in Somalia” report says Amisom and the SNA captured Janaale and Lower Shabelle regions and have been focused on stabilising the recovered areas and consolidating their presence.

In a briefing last week, experts at the Africa Policy Institute said while Covid-19 had initially been good ground for Al-Shabaab propaganda, the group has fallen victim of the pandemic.

In a paper titled “Disease and Terror,” the analysts said the group initially weaponised the pandemic, using it to portray Amisom forces and other foreigners as “invaders” who had brought the disease, driving a wedge between public health officials and civilians.

But as infections rose and countries locked down, Al-Shabaab became a victim of circumstances with some of its members getting infected.

Covid-19

“The virus has also affected Al-Shabaab, splitting its leadership and undermining loyalty to the group. It has adopted own measures to contain the pandemic,” the document says.

“It has reduced radicalisation and recruitment. The militia’s recruitment in public spaces and other offline settings have decreased significantly. Restriction on free movement of citizens and diminished crowded public spaces have weakened Al-Shabaab’s ability.”

The group has been active in and outside Somalia since 2007, opposing subsequent federal governments and their allies.

It is around the same time that Amisom forces were deployed to Somalia. The force has about 20,000 troops and includes soldiers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, Uganda and Djibouti, each with its own sector.

Rising from dead

The withdrawal of Al-Shabaab fighters back to Mogadishu, and the increasing use of ambushes may mean sectors outside the capital could be winning ground against the group.

However, some analysts warned against celebrating yet, saying the group is known for rising from the dead.

Hawa Noor, a PhD student in global governance and regional integration at the University of Bremen, Germany, said recent attacks indicate that it is business as usual for Al-Shabaab.

“It goes quiet then strategically launches attacks. It is also unfair to want to make predictions about the effect of Covid-19 on al-Shabaab because nobody knows what will happen regarding the pandemic dynamics,” she told the Nation.

“But based on past behaviour, al-Shabaab takes advantage of anything ‘useful’, including coronavirus.”

While military force may weaken the group, Noor said Al-Shabaab fighters have traditionally survived on certain conditions and that it is up to authorities to address them and weaken it permanently.

There have been reports of Al-Shabaab infiltrating the federal government and member state governments.

Defectors

Officials in Somalia, however, say they have weakened that strategy by encouraging defectors into the mainstream society.

Tabitha Mwangi, a consultant on national security, cyber and counter-terrorism, says governments must be careful not to divert all resources to fighting the pandemic.

“Covid-19 has made governments to direct almost all their resources towards healthcare. This makes it easy for groups like Al-Shabaab to thrive,” she said.

Al-Shabaab even set up a Covid-19 committee in Somalia, a strategy it used to draw public sympathy, she says.

Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah (ASWJ) has developed into a well-equipped and coordinated insurgency and is now closing the capability gap with Mozambican security forces, like reported by theafricareport.com.

“At the current rate, the momentum is firmly with ASWJ and without significant regional assistance, substantial financial commitments and major structural reform it is unlikely that the Mozambican army will manage to substantially turn the tide in their favour in the next six months,” says Alexandre Raymakers, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft in London.

As with the Nigerian army in the initial stages of the fight against Boko Haram, the Mozambican army currently lacks the financial resources or a coordinated regional approach to effectively stem ASWJ’s advances. A multinational force made of up units from several African countries was a key factor in Nigeria’s ability to reverse Boko Haram’s territorial expansion back in 2015.

“Maputo will simply not regain the initiative without remediating the major structural gaps that hinder overall Mozambican military capabilities,” adds Raymakers. Government use of private military contractors “should avert a major military catastrophe but will not be able to provide the edge necessary to drive out ASWJ”.

Only a month ago, ASWJ was attacking mostly isolated vehicles of subcontractors, not well-protected project sites. This was said to be due to the absence of heavier and more sophisticated weaponry, including explosives.

The insurgents regained control of the strategic northern port of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado Province on 12 August.
Situated 60km south of the Afungi peninsula, home to the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) activities, the port is of significant importance to oil and gas operators.

According to research published by Norway-based think tank CMI, there is no clear evidence that the insurgency is linked, as it claims, to the Islamic State rebels. Yet the military threat it poses is real.

CMI says there is a dangerous split in the army between commanders and the rank and file. The latter are often new recruits with little training who have found themselves thrust into a fight that they do not understand.

Morale is low, and many soldiers are ready to drop their uniforms and weapons to “run away from a war which they do not see as theirs,” says the CMI report.

Operators risk disruption

A consortium led by French oil major Total in July announced $14.9bn of senior debt financing for LNG development in Mozambique. Energy consultancy Rystad Energy forecasts that gas production in the country will increase from 72,000 of barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020 to 753,000 by 2030. Total country spend in the sector is forecast to rise from $3bn to $17.2bn over the same period.

The deteriorating security situation casts a cloud over those projections.

Although an imminent attack on the Afungi peninsula is unlikely, the risk of such an attack has grown considerably in the last few months. If ASWJ has the confidence to engage in a conventional battle, an attack on the Afungi peninsula and its oil and gas facilities will become “increasingly likely,” argues Raymakers.

“Opportunistic attacks on operators, such as the killing of eight workers of a private construction company this June, will likely increase in frequency over the next six months,” he adds.

“Operators must anticipate further disruptions to their supply lines as ASWJ will likely continue to regularly target key infrastructure installations across Cabo Delgado,” concludes Raymakers.

Bottom line
Rosy projections for Mozambique’s LNG production must take account of the deteriorating security situation.

U.S. Forces in Africa allegedly terminated a high-ranking member of the Islamist terrorist faction Al-Shabab in a drone strike, like reported by newsweek.com.

Al-Shabab, which some reports have connected to the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, has been engaged in battles against the Somalian government, which is backed by the United Nations. Al-Shabab was declared a terrorist faction by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2008. The strike launched by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) resulted in the death of an individual who was allegedly involved with placing IEDs along a Somalian road. AFRICOM did not name the target of the drone strike.

“In support of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces use a range of effective and appropriate methods to assist in the protection of the Somali people,” read a Thursday statement posted by AFRICOM on Twitter. “Together with partner and allied forces, U.S. Africa Command works on a daily basis to improve security conditions to enhance governance and economic development while preventing Al-Shabaab’s desire to expand their reach and further export violence.”

Along with the Al-Shabab member, the drone strike reportedly destroyed a motorcycle. “U.S. Africa Command currently assesses no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this attack,” the statement continued.

Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for terrorist acts in Eastern Africa, including a 2016 attack on a Somalian airbase that resulted in the deaths of approximately 180 soldiers. In 2015, Al-Shabab members attacked Garissa University in Kenya and killed 148 Christian students.

On Sunday, Al-Shabab detonated a car bomb in front of the Elite Hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, before gunmen entered the property. In the attack, 11 people were killed.

Parliament member and hotel owner Abdullahi Mohamed Nor was on the premises when Al-Shabab began their attack. “May Allah have mercy upon those who perished in the attack which terrorists carried out at the Elite Hotel,” Nor wrote on his Facebook page. “I was at the hotel when the attack happened, may Allah give a quick recovery for the wounded people. I am safe and sound.”

Airstrikes in Somalia by AFRICOM have increased during the administration of President Donald Trump. As of July, there had been 43 airstrikes in the area since the beginning of 2020. In the last ten years total, there had been only 42 airstrikes carried out by U.S. forces in Somalia. Some critics of the airstrike program have said claimed that civilian casualties have resulted from attacks by AFRICOM.

Last week, armed militants stormed the town and temporarily seized a major port from authorities, according to local media Zitamar. “This is worrisome because it suggests the government has lost control in terms of its handling of the crisis,” said Martin Ewi, regional South Africa coordinator at the Institute for Security Studies in neighboring South Africa, like reported by pri.org.

Mozambique’s Minister of Defense Jaime Neto said the attackers had attacked the village from the inside, killing civilians and damaging the nearby port.

The insurgents, sometimes called al-Sunna wa Jama’a, have ramped up attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado this year, displacing thousands of people and prompting some nongovernmental organizations to suspend activities in certain areas.

Yussuf Adam, a historian of Cabo Delgado, says the ambitions of the group remain unclear, and their origins are complex.

“When they started, basically they were youth who didn’t work. They sold [items] in the markets,” said Adam, noting the high unemployment rate of about 17% among a large youth population.

Displacement by oil and mining corporations in the past two decades could also be a contributing factor.

“[Cabo Delgado residents] were expelled from their land. The money they were paid for it wasn’t what they were expecting. Or what they wanted,” Adam explained.

In recent years, the group has become a well-armed insurgency, stealing equipment from Mozambican military forces after attacks.

Now, there are growing concerns about the group’s apparent ties with ISIS.

“We are concerned with it because we do believe that there is a local issue there, a local grievance that is now being leveraged by Islamic State in particular,” said Major Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of US Operations Command Africa, during a press conference on Aug. 4.

“The reason we believe that is we have seen them, over the last 12 to 18 months, develop in their capabilities, become more aggressive, and use techniques and procedures that are common in other parts of the world,” Anderson continued.

While the extent of the connection between ISIS and al-Sunna remains unclear, experts like Ewi say the insurgency in northern Mozambique is an international crisis requiring international support.

“The way it is going now it could become a regional crisis that will affect other countries in Southern Africa,” Ewi said.

On Monday, Southern African Development Community (SADC), now chaired by Mozambique, said it would support Mozambique in “addressing the terrorism and violent attacks.”

Mozambique has tried to stem the insurgency with military force, barring access to parts of Cabo Delgado, and restricting access to journalists and researchers.

Human rights activists have criticized the heavy-handed response and accused government security forces of abusing and summarily killing suspected insurgents.

Abuse by military and security forces during counterterrorism operations has been a persistent problem in other parts of Africa.

“Respect for human rights needs to be a core part of the strategy,” Ewi argued. “If we don’t go in there to protect human rights, there’s going to be a heavy backlash.”