Al Qaeda in Yemen, Charlie Hebdo & Boko Haram

Sami Aboudi and Yara Bayoumy report that “Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant group’s leadership for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, according to a video posted on YouTube. “As for the blessed Battle of Paris, we, the Organisation of al Qaeda al Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula, claim responsibility for this operation as vengeance for the Messenger of God,” said Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, a leader of the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda (AQAP) in the recording. Gunmen killed a total of 17 people in three days of violence that began when they opened fire at Charlie Hebdo in revenge for its past publication of satirical images of the Prophet. Ansi, the main ideologue for AQAP, said the “one who chose the target, laid the plan and financed the operation is the leadership of the organization”, without naming an individual. He added without elaborating that the strike was carried out in “implementation” of the order of overall al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, who has called for strikes by Muslims in the West using any means they can find. AQAP itself is led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi, who is also Zawahri’s number two in the network’s global hierarchy”.[1]

While these French citizens were killed, in Nigeria, the terror groups Boko Haram slaughtered about 2,000 Nigerians on the Black Continent . . . as Democracy Now!‘s Amy Goodman explains, “[a]s the world focused on the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, a massive atrocity was unfolding in Nigeria. On January 3, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram attacked the northern town of Baga and surrounding areas. Over the next several days, hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians were killed. Fleeing residents were chased into the bush and shot dead, others reportedly drowning in Lake Chad as they tried to swim away. Scores of homes were burned to the ground, and bodies were strewn in the streets. Estimates of the death toll range from around 500 to up to 2,000. Some 30,000 people were also displaced. Amnesty International says the assault on Baga could be the deadliest of the Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency. The group has waged relentless violence in a bid to establish an Islamist state in northern Nigeria”.[2]

[1] Sami Aboudi and Yara Bayoumy, “Al Qaeda in Yemen claims responsibility for Paris attack” Reuters (14 Jan 2015). http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/14/us-france-shooting-aqap-idUSKBN0KN0VO20150114.

[2]” Massacre in Nigeria: Up to 2,000 Feared Dead in Boko Haram’s Worst Attack to Date” Democracy Now! (13 Jan 2015). http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/13/massacre_in_nigeria_up_to_2.

Boko Haram: Inside Story, November 2011

‘Al Jazeera‘s ‘Inside Story’ asks what motivates the Islamist group’s increasing violence in Africa’s most populous country (8 Nov 2011)’.

 

Obama’s Africa: Africom in Action

“In the Now we look at the scope of US military presence in Africa. Plus, regional expert Ayo Johnson says America’s recent military deployments to Nigeria and Chad is about securing US national interests not girls’ safety (22 May 2014)’.

In 2011, President Obama sent U.S. troops to Uganda, supposedly to look for Joseph Kony and the LRA but in all likelihood,[i] it was a move more to do with the recently-discovered oil wealth in Uganda . . . Anissa Naouai is correct in talking about a trend. Getting down to the nitty-gritty, CNN’s Faith Karimi and Catherine Shoichet report that the “United States deployed 80 members of its armed forces to Chad to help in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, the White House said Wednesday [, 21 May 2014]”.[2] A written statement published by the U.S. Army states the following: “These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area. The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required”.[3] And Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby also piped in from the peanut gallery, saying that “These [soldiers] are not combat infantry troops that we put into Chad . . . These are folks that are there to support the reconnaissance mission”.[4]

 

[1] “U.S. Troops in Uganda: LRA or Oil???” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (15 Oct 2011). https://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/u-s-troops-in-uganda-lra-or-oil/.

[2] Faith Karimi and Catherine E. Shoichet, “80 U.S. troops in Chad will aid search for abducted Nigerian girls” CNN (22 May 2014). http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/21/world/africa/nigeria-violence/.

[3] Faith Karimi and Catherine E. Shoichet, “80 U.S. troops in Chad will aid search for abducted Nigerian girls”.

[4] Faith Karimi and Catherine E. Shoichet, “80 U.S. troops in Chad will aid search for abducted Nigerian girls”.

#BringBackOurGirls

 

‘The First Lady’s attempt to put the horror of some 200 school girls taken hostage by the terrorist organization Boko Haram in Nigeria into hashtag. The symbolic social media stunt FAILS and gets fierce feedbac (15 May 2014)’.

As days and nights go on without the 200-plus abducted Nigerian girls safely back in their homes, the international community is raising their virtual voices through various viral statements. “Bring back our girls,” director of a division in the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women ( UN Women), Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett, said . . .

And then are those who say that the whole thing is a scam, as related by the Nigerian journalist Samuel Agada: the ‘Founder of the now rested Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo has described the hullabaloo generated as a result of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls as a scam’.[1]

 

[1] Samuel Agada, ” No girls are missing, Chibok abduction is a scam – Asari Dokubo” Daily Post (08 May 2014). http://dailypost.ng/2014/05/08/girls-missing-chibok-abduction-scam-asari-dokubo/.