Boko Haram
an
“emerging
threat” – US
Congress
28
December 1,
2011
News
WASHINGTON
(AFP) – A US
congressional
report on
Wednesday
flagged Nigeria’s
Boko Haram
Islamist sect as an
“emerging threat”
that could
represent an
eventual security
risk to the United
States and its
interests.
The group has
been blamed for
scores of attacks in
Nigeria, including
the August suicide
bombing of the
United Nations’
Nigeria
headquarters in the
capital Abuja that
killed at least 24
people, and is
believed to have
ties to Al-Qaeda.
The Congress
report, presented
at a hearing of the
House of
Representatives
subcommittee on
counter-terrorism
and intelligence,
said that US
interests are also at
risk.
“Boko Haram has
quickly evolved
and poses an
emerging threat to
US interests and
the US homeland,”
said the 28-page
report written by
the panel.
“The United States
should work with
the government of
Nigeria to build
counterterrorism
and intelligence
capability to
effectively counter
Boko Haram,” it
said.
The document
added that the
Islamist group
“has the intent and
may be developing
capability to
coordinate on a
rhetorical and
operational level
with Al-Qaeda in
the Lands of the
Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM) and Al-
Shebab.”
Boko Haram has
claimed
responsibility for
multiple gun,
bomb and suicide
attacks this month
in Damatur,
targeting police
and churches and
killing 150 people in
addition to the UN
attack, and US
lawmakers said
they believe that
the risk to the
United States has
been
underestimated.
The group’s “fast
evolution in
targeting and
tactics mirrors
other Al-Qaeda
affiliated groups
and is worrisome,”
the
subcommittee’s
chairman,
Representative
Patrick Meehan,
said at the start of
the hearing.
“While I recognize
there is little
evidence at this
moment to
suggest Boko
Haram is planning
attacks against the
(US) homeland,
lack of evidence
does not mean it
cannot happen,”
he said.
Peter Pham, an
expert with the
Atlantic Council
thinktank, testified
at the hearing that
for the moment,
the Nigerian
group’s reach is
“still somewhat
limited.”
“Nevertheless, the
fact that the group
has been able in
recent months to
expand its
operations beyond
its base in northern
Nigeria ought to be
a wake-up call to
both the Nigerian
government and
the international
community,”
Pham told
lawmakers.