Boko Haram attacks heighten terrorism in Africa –US

United States has attributed the increase in terror
attacks in Africa to the activities of Islamic sect, Boko
Haram, in Nigeria.
It said Africa experienced 978 attacks in 2011, an
11.5 per cent increase over the previous year,
attributing this to the aggressive attacks of Boko
Haram, which it said conducted 136 attacks in 2011,
up from 31 in 2010.
In a global report on terrorism released on
Wednesday by the State Department's Coordinator
for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Dan Benjamin, the
US said attacks in 2011 were more than 10,000 in 70
countries, resulting in more than 12,500 deaths.
According to him, the victims of terrorist attacks
remain overwhelmingly Muslim.
He explained that majority of attacks occurred in
three countries – Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan,
which together accounted for 85 per cent of attacks
in these regions.
He explained that the figure was a drop of 12 per
cent from 2010.
Benjamin explained that the largest number of
reported attacks occurred in South Asia and the Near
East.
"More than 75 per cent of the world's attacks and
deaths occurred in these regions. Although it's worth
noting that both Afghanistan and Iraq saw declines in
the number of attacks from the previous year – 14
per cent in the case of Afghanistan, 16 per cent in
the case of Iraq," he said.
The ambassador said the United States was "very
concerned" about the activities of Boko Haram and
other groups, adding that it had been working to
address the issue of insecurity in northern Nigeria.
He said, "This is a top priority for the Department.
We're concerned about Boko Haram's activities.
We've been engaging with the Nigerian government
in particular at the highest levels to move them
towards greater engagement with communities that
are vulnerable to extremist violence by addressing
the underlying political and socio-economic problems
in the north."
On the move to designate Boko Haram as a Foreign
Terrorist organisation, Benjamin described it as a
"laborious process" which must be able to stand up
in court and takes a long time.
"I don't want to preview any designations or non-
designations beyond that. I will point out, though,
that we have designated, under Executive Order
13224, three leaders of Boko Haram. We did that
back on June 21,2012. And this allows us to focus on
those individuals who are most responsible for
violence, for threats against the U.S. and its citizens."