On Friday, August 6, 2021, the US State Department announced the addition of 5 African Islamic militants to its list of global terrorism, which requires the blocking of any property or interests in the United States for them, and this designation allows the imposition of possible US sanctions on individuals or foreign financial institutions that have dealings with five africans on the United States’ terror list
who are they?
Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said in a statement that among them, Ben Madi Omar, the senior military commander of the ISIS branch in Mozambique, who led a group of extremists who killed dozens in an attack on the Amarola Hotel in Palma last March and is also responsible for attacks in other areas of Mozambique. and Tanzania. He added that Sidang Hita and Salem Ould El Hassan, two of the senior leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims in Mali, as well as Ali Mohamed Raji and Abdelkader Mohamed Abdelkader, two of the leaders of the Al-Shabab group in Somalia, were also included.
Terrorism in Africa: a growing threat
On the other hand, General Stephen Townson, head of the US Africa Command, AFRICOM, likened the spread of terrorism in Africa to “the spread of wildfire.” The United Nations warned, during July 2021, that terrorist organizations, led by “ISIS” and “ISIS” Al-Qaeda” is a growing threat in most parts of the continentA report prepared by the United Nations Monitoring Team tasked with tracking terrorist threats around the world said terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda are expanding in many places, warning at the same time that Africa is now “the region most affected by terrorism.”
The report noted that in many African regions, these terrorist groups are gaining support, threatening more territory, acquiring weapons and raising more money.
