3 May 2014

Local Al-Qaeda groups exerting new power in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and West Africa

Despite weaker Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and West Africa are exerting increasing influence in their regions. According to a US State Department report that was released this Wednesday, this poses new challenges for American counterterrorism officials.

The report states that within a context of weak governance and instability in certain regions of the Middle East and Africa, ‘increasingly aggressive and autonomous AQ affiliates and like-minded groups’ have taken advantage of the situation so as to broaden and deepen their operations. These affiliates, while occasionally receiving ideological guidance from the group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, are continuously increasing their focus on local and regional objectives.

Furthermore, the report uncovered a link between the decline of Al Qaeda’s leadership and an increase in the affiliates search for increased financial independence. Such independence is sought through operations which focus on kidnapping-for-ransom and other criminal activities. The report went on to establish that in Yemen and the region of Islamic Maghreb, in West Africa, affiliates and, respectively, Al Qaeda have carried out such operations with particular effectiveness. The most common targets are Westerners, whose governments- or third parties- have adopted a pattern of meeting such demands in order to secure the release of the victims.

Lastly, the report took note of the fact that the Syrian civil war is attracting thousands of people, who travel from around the world to join the fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad and some of these fighters have joined violent Islamist extremist groups.

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Source: The New York Times | Qaeda Affiliates Gain Regional Influence as Central Leadership Fades
Source: U.S. Department of State | Executive Summary | BUREAU OF COUNTERTERRORISM | Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 | 30 April 2014

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