US report says Boko Haram may have anti- aircraft missiles

Not only has Boko Haram been linked to

the group behind Kenyan mall attack al

Shabaab, there are also reports that

they may have anti-aircraft missiles.

Hmmmm.

From Punch

A report by a committee of the

United States House of

Representatives has linked the

fundamentalist Islamist sect, Boko

Haram to al Shabaab, the terror

group that carried out the

September 21 Westgate Mall

attack in Nairobi, Kenya.

The report dated September 13,

2013 and entitled, ‘Boko Haram:

Growing Threat to the US

Homeland’, also acknowledged

the growing relationship between

the Nigerian sect and another

terror group, the Al Qaeda in the

land of the Islamic Maghreb.

The 39-page report noted that

“while there is no evidence that al

Qaeda’s core in Afghanistan and

Pakistan commands Boko

Haram’s operations, it is clear

from the words of multiple US

officials and media reports that

Boko Haram is supportive of, and

supported by Al Qaeda networks

such as AQIM.”

It noted that “it is the unity of ideology

and mutual hatred for the West between

the Al Qaeda networks that exposes the

danger Boko Haram poses to the U.S

Homeland.”

The committee described Boko Haram

as a “hardened and sophisticated terror

network” that required multiple

simultenous local and international

efforts to enhance the capacity and

capability of the the Nigerian Police and

the military to curtail its activities.

It said there was an urgent need by the

US to designate the sect as a Foreign

Terrorist Organisation because it has

shown no signs of ending its

aggression against the government of

Nigeria and the Western world.

The commiteee wrote, “The world is

coming to know more about Boko

Haram; their intentions, what they’re

capable of, and who is supporting them.

“The US Intelligence Community is

working to erase the gaps in our

understanding of Boko Haram, but it is

already evident they are a serious threat

to US interests and potentially to the US

Homeland.

‘‘Acknowledging this threat publicly by

designating Boko Haram an FTO will

establish a legal mechanism for

prosecuting any supporters within US

jurisdictions.

“This is an increasingly important tool

given their attempts to market

themselves to a wider international

audience.

“Boko Haram shows no signs of ending

its campaign against the government of

Nigeria and the Western world. Two

years after their August 2011 bombing

of a United Nations facility in Abuja,

Nigeria, Boko Haram remains a threat

to the international community, and

continues to be a developing threat to

the US  Homeland.”

The report said that Boko Haram had

“highly skilled bomb makers who might

have received training from

experienced militants elsewhere,

potentially indicating a stronger

relationship between them and AQIM or

Al Shabaab.

It said that besides building

sophisticated weaponry, it was now

possible that Boko Haram had acquired

or will acquire SA-7 and SA-24

shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

The SA-7 missile is effective up to

1,300 metres, while some newer models

reach altitudes of almost four

kilometres. Although most aircraft

cruise around 9,140 metres, the SA-7

could be used to target aircraft during

takeoff and landing.

In the report, the committee warned, “It

does not take much imagination to

picture the threat these weapons would

pose to commercial aviation in Abuja if

they fell into Boko Haram hands.”

Out of the 20,000 such weapons in

Libya, only 5,000 of them had been

secured through a $40m US programme

to buy up loose missiles during the fall

of the Gadhafi regime. Most are believed

to have found their way into countries

that share common boundaries with

Nigeria.

The committee acknowledged that the

Goodluck Jonathan administration had

taken some potentially promising steps

in its effort to fight Boko Haram.

It said the appointment of Col. Sambo

Dasuki (retd), a northern Nigerian

Muslim, to the position of National

Security Adviser on June 23, 2012,

demonstrated Jonathan’s willingness to

give northerners and Muslims a visible

role in Nigeria’s struggle with Boko

Haram.

“Dasuki has taken the lead in

organising government’s fight against

Boko Haram, and his background as a

Muslim from the North may give him

obvious and potent symbolic

significance,” the committee said.

In spite of this, the committee observed

that concerns regarding the capability

of the Jonathan administration to

effectively deal with Boko Haram

remained prominent.

The committee said without foreign

assistance from countries such as the

US and the UK, the Nigerian government

would almost certainly face a

prolonged battle in neutralising Boko

Haram.

According to the committee, the State

Department, which has also engaged

Nigeria through its African Coastal and

Border Security programme, has

focused its assistance on peacekeeping

support, training, border and maritime

security, and increasing military

professionalisation.

But it lamented that in spite of the

training, the “JTF continues to behave

unprofessionally, and has been accused

of human rights abuses by Human

Rights Watch, among other entities,

including the State Department’s most

recent annual human rights report.”

It also warned that greater pressure

must be applied to the JTF to abandon

counter-productive and brutal tactics

alienating northerners.

The committee said failure of the

Secretary of State to designate the Boko

Haram sect an FTO, was the ‘most

obvious flaw in the US effort to combat

it and prevent its expansion.’

It said, “If Boko Haram were to be

designated an FTO, it would support US

intelligence community efforts to curb

the group’s financing, stigmatise and

isolate it internationally, heighten public

awareness and knowledge, and signal

to other governments the US takes the

threat from Boko Haram seriously.

“If Boko Haram is not designated an

FTO, its potential threat to the US and

its capability to attack the homeland

would likely increase. It is therefore an

urgent next step to take in fighting this

growing al Qaeda affiliate in Nigeria.”

The committee further said as the

number of attacks perpetrated by Boko

Haram had increased in 2013, so had

the attention paid to the group by the

US.