Saturday, June 20, 2015

State Department Report on Terrorism: Africa Overview

The State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism has just released its Country Reports on Terrorism 2014.  The Africa Overview section discusses terrorist groups on the continent such as al-Shabaab and countries in the Horn of Africa.

It describes Djibouti as a supportive US counterterrorism partner.  Ethiopia had no terrorist attacks in 2014, but the US expressed concern about its use of the 2009 Antiterrorism Proclamation.  Eritrea said it wanted to be a partner in the war on terrorism but the US said it is "not cooperating fully" with US counterterrorism efforts.  The report described Kenya as a location of growing radicalization with extreme violence on its borders.  Although al-Shabaab lost control of much territory in Somalia, it continued to conduct a broad spectrum of asymmetrical attacks throughout the country.