Over the past five years, there has been an increase in international attacks. For example, in 2015, the threat of terrorism on a global scale rapidly increased and subsided, and this was attributed to the inadequate mechanisms that nations had consistently implemented to combat the vice. Other factors that have added to the rise in terrorist activities include the justice systems' lack of credibility, the state institutions' inefficiency, the corruption of the political system, and the obstruction of avenues for the free and peaceful expression of opinion. Since its founding in 1999, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has grown to pose a serious danger to international security. The group has over the years been on the frontline in recruiting and radicalizing new members that are taught on how to carry out terror activities. The new members are fed on hate and made to view the world differently. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stands out as the global terrorist threat to reckon and has always been blamed for the various terrorist attacks in Europe, Asia and the U.S. as at the end of 2015, a series of attacks was conducted by the group in countries such as France, Turkey and Lebanon, and this demonstrated that the terrorist group had the capability of carrying out the attacks beyond Syria and Iraq. The ISIL control in countries such as Iraq and Syria had previously been on the rise but began to erode in as at mid-2015, especially with the efforts of the Russian and U.S. military troops.
ISIL mainly depends on the extortion of taxes from the local population of those areas where they have control. The group also depends on oil smuggling, foreign donation, kidnapping for ransoms and looping as a source of their funding (Country Report, 2016). However, the weakening of the group by the military was made possible by targeting the ISIL’s sources of funding. Other than ISIL, the Al-qaeda terror group was also involved in terror attacks in Mali, Tunisia and Burkinafaso. In Nigeria, Boko-Haram killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands displaced from their native homes.
The U.S. in conjunction with the EU came up with measures that aimed dealing with the escalating cases of terrorism attacks across the globe. In February 2015, for instance, President Obama convened the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. The summit focused on strategies that were instrumental in ensuring that the global terrorism was effectively mitigated, and was attended by more than 60 countries and representatives from the civil society and business community.
Africa
Africa is one of those continents that were a target to terror attacks in 2015. The Al-shabaab terrorist group continually became resilient and mounted its strategic attacks in Somali and the neighboring country Kenya. The group was behind the attacks in Mogadishu and the attack at the Garissa University College in Kenya that ended up leading to the loss of more than 145 students. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was deployed in Somali to help deal with the terrorist group but despite its efforts, the Alshabaab adopted different tactics and they continued their attacks on the innocent civilians both in Kenya and Somali. Countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti, hardly suffered the attacks by Alshabaab in 2015. The U.S. provided their support in dealing with the terrorist group on the horn of Africa.
The continent was also a target of the Boko Haram group. The terrorist group mainly focused on the Lake Chad Basin, parts of Cameroon and the North Western side of Nigeria. A lot of efforts by countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad were put in place with the aim of dealing with the Boko-Haram group, and with the attacks from different direction, the group faced setbacks in their hideouts (Country Report, 2016). However, despite the setbacks, Boko-Haram developed new tactics, attacking the villages and burning civilians inside their houses. The group carried out bombings and kidnapping and some of the areas that experienced these attacks included the Northeast states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, South east niger, Northern Cameroon and parts of chad. The move by the France’s Operation Barkhane to help the Camerronian and Nigerian militaries in dealing with the terrorist group was a major boost.
The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism partnership
The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism partnership was founded in 2005 with the aim of dealing with terrorist attacks in the region. the organization is funded by the U.S. and some of the areas of support include making it easier for the military of the north and west African militaries to carry out counter-terrorism activities, integration of the ability of the militaries in the region to work collaboratively in dealing with the threat of terrorism, monitoring and countering the financing of the terrorist groups and enhancement of the border security.
Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism
The Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism was founded in 2009 and is funded by the U.S. the organization is based in the east African region and some of its aims include reduction of the operation capacity of the terrorist groups, enhancement of border security, reduction of the appeal of radicalization and recruitment of violent extremism and enhancing border security.
African countries involvement in counterterrorism
With the increasing terror attacks in countries such as Mali, Nigeria and Kenya, the African countries came up with various strategies that were aimed at dealing with the issue. Countries such as Burkinafaso, Chad, Niger and Nigeria are members of ECOWAS, and through the efforts of the regional body, they came up with measures that were focused on cutting the source of funding for the terrorist group. Senegal and Benin are also members of the ECOWAS regional body and this was instrumental in helping them deal with the terror attacks. Countries such as Rwanda, Cameroon and Chad are also members of the anti-money laundering group whose aim is to eradicate all the channels where the terrorist groups derive their money from. Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia were the least targeted countries in Eastern Africa (Country Report, 2016). However, the countries still came up with measures such as being members of the AMISON group, the use of the Anti-terrorism Proclamation of 2009 by Ethiopia, involvement of the regional body, IGAD in dealing with the terrorist group Alshabab and the implementation of check points with the aim of dealing with the escalating cases of terrorism in the region. Within the eastern African region, Kenya was the worst affected in terms of terrorist attacks. In 2015, the country was a target of various terrorist attacks with the worst being the Garissa University College attack. With the support of the U.S. and as a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body, Kenya focused on the mitigation of the attacks. The country’s government has also been on the frontline, through its military in ensuring that it deals with the Alshabaab group. Somali has always been a target of the Alshabab group. the efforts by the AMISON, Somali National Army (SNA), the Kenyan Defence Forces and the U.S. was hardly successful in dealing with the terrorist group. The group originated from the country and spilled off to the neighboring countries. The city of Mogadishu was a major target for the Alshabab group in 2015 and this led to the loss of several lives. Countries such as Mali, Mauritania and Niger, with the support of the U.S. and French governments also dealt with the terrorist groups. The countries endless efforts in dealing with the terrorist activities bore fruits, especially with the weakening of the Boko-Haram and Alqaeda groups. Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa standout as among those countries that were least affected by terror attacks in 2015, but despite the low terror attacks, the countries put up measures that were aimed at dealing with the occurrence of such attacks.
East Asia and the PacifiC
In 2015, the region was faced by various terrorist threats from the ISIL group. Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia joined the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL while Australia and Indonesia continued to chair the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s (GCTF’s) Detention and Reintegration Working Group (DRWG) that mainly focused on the eradication of terrorism. The government of Newzealand established an ambassador of counterterrorism whose aim was to monitor any terror threats in the region while Japan and China also came up with strategies that were mainly focused in dealing with terrorist threats. China is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. Countries such as Indonesia and the Republic of Korea were also involved in counter-terrorism by supporting China and Japan in fighting the terrorist groups. Philippine, Thailand and Singapore are members of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG), a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body whose aim is to deal with matters pertaining to money laundering, thus cutting down on the financing of the terrorist groups.
Europe
Europe was one of those continents that were worst hit by the terrorist attacks in 2015. Some of the terrorist groups that carried the attacks included the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusrah Front (ANF), and from foreign terrorist fighters who returned home to Europe. Countries such as Syria, Belgium, Turkey, Germany and France fell victims of the terrorist attacks. Despite the efforts by the European Commission, cities such as Paris remained susceptible to terrorist threats. Countries such as Austria, Denmark, Bosnia and Germany were on the frontline in dealing with the attacks through enhanced border security. France and Georgia, through the support of the EU and the U.S. forces also ensured that it dealt with the violent extremists. Russia’s efforts in dealing with the terrorist group were evident in Syria, with its efforts in flashing the ISIL group from the country.
U.S. involvement in dealing with ISIL
The ISIL group has had a lot of devastating effects both in the U.S. and across the globe. The group recruits new members on a daily basis, and this is a part of their strategy to strengthen their squad. The new members recruited in the group are given lessons on how to carry out terror attacks in the name of Allah (Country Report, 2016). After the radicalization process, the members of the group are sent on different missions across the globe. The group gets funds from sponsorships and the control of some of the oil firms in Syria. The funds that the group collects are used in the provision of training to its members and purchasing of sophisticated weapon that they use in carrying out their terror attacks.
The group has also been a major threat to the U.S., and this is evident from the recent Florida Gay Night club that was carried by an individual that paid his allegiance to the group. The group has always been vocal in the past about carrying out more terror-related activities within the U.S. other than the threats that the terror group poses on the U.S., it also has a security concern to the Homeland security in general. The 21st century has witnessed advancement in the level of technology the terror group has acquired both chemical weapon and weapon of mass destructions that are a concern to the Homeland Security. The acquired weapon by the terror group can cause a lot of damage to the country once unleashed by the terror group. The ever expanding network of the ISIL group is another major threat that the Homeland Security faces (Country Report, 2016). By hiring more new recruits into the terror group, it makes it harder for the Homeland Security to completely thwart the operations of the group.
References
Country Report. (2016). Country Reports on Terrorism 2015, 1-407 https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/258249.pdf
