Africa has become the main target of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group by suffering 41 percent of all its attacks worldwide…reports Asian Lite News
Africa has become the main target of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group by suffering 41 percent of all its attacks worldwide, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told a ministerial conference of the Global Coalition against the IS.
The number of terrorist attacks in Africa surged compared to the pre-pandemic period, with an average of 40 percent to 60 percent rise in terms of fatalities and attacks, he said.
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“Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 48 percent of global terrorism deaths — with 3,461 casualties, bringing the death toll to 30,000 people during the last 15 years,” said Bourita, adding 27 terrorist entities based in Africa are registered on the UN Security Council sanction list.
Sahel has become home to the world’s fastest growing and most deadly terrorist groups, accounting for 35 percent of global terrorism deaths in 2021, compared with just 1 percent in 2007, according to Bourita.
“African economy lost during the last years more than 171 billion U.S. dollars because of the terror threat which now reached the Atlantic coasts and its shipping routes,” he noted.
According to Morocco’s national radio, the ministerial conference was attended by more than 40 ministers, including 38 foreign ministers, who discussed regional security and stability, international cooperation, and measures to cut the financial support of terrorism.
Attack on Al-Shabab
Somali security forces killed 17 al-Shabab terrorists and wounded several others during security operations in the southern region on Wednesday, officials said.
The Somalia National Army (SNA) told Radio Mogadishu that the security operation which was carried out by its special forces, Danab, also saw nine of al-Shabab hideouts destroyed in southern and southwestern states.
“Seventeen al-Shabab terrorists were killed and nine of their hideouts destroyed in special security operations carried out by SNA commanders in Somalia’s Jubaland and Southwest states in the past 24 hours,” the radio reported.
The government forces have stepped up operation against al-Shabab blamed for staging sporadic attacks targeting African Union and government key bases including public places in Mogadishu and elsewhere across the country.
The intensified operation also comes ahead of the long-delayed presidential elections to be held in the capital, Mogadishu, on Sunday.
Al-Shabab militants who have opposed the ongoing electoral process have staged a series of attacks, targeting delegates in bid to disrupt the electoral process.
In another development, Iraqi soldiers killed nine militants of the Islamic State on Wednesday during an operation in the northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.
Iraqi soldiers surrounded nine militants holed up in a tunnel in Kraw Mountain there, some 250 km north of Baghdad, bombed the tunnel and killed all the militants inside, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces have carried out operations against the extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since 2017. However, Islamic State remnants have melted into urban centers, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
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