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Discussion - Terrorism > Number of Known Terrorist Organizations Present
These are comments that our moderators found as non-authoritative though possibly interesting for
further discussion on Terrorism > Number of Known Terrorist Organizations Present
shornaal
23rd July 2012 |
based on other statistics ive seen greece should be the third european country with the most terrorist attacks (from left wing groups), france should be the second (from separatists) and spain should be first (from both left wing and separatist organizations) with over 100 attacks per year. |
CHRIS OGABIDO
28th August 2011 |
THREATS TO NIGERIA PEACE AND SECURITY: THE BOKO HARAM DIMENSION
Nigeria, a peace-loving nation and the biggest black nation of the world is today witnessing series of bomb attacks by an Islamic sect or group that called itself ‘Boko Haram’. This incessant bomb blasts which is nothing but a senseless, useless and barbaric act of terrorism can only be perpetrated by uncivilized people who may collude with foreign agents that do not value human lives, rights, dignity and security or have the interest of the country at heart. This is big security challenge.
Most attacks in Africa, and of course in most parts of the globe were traced to the group headed by Osama bin Laden known as al-Qaeda. Its ideology is nothing other than the belief that Islam is being degraded and humiliated by “Western” values. Simillar terrorist organizations fight the same cause. For instance in Palestine, there is a group called the Hamas, In Lebanon, there is the group known as Hezbollah (all in the Middle East).
These groups have their sponsors and their activities must be seen beyond local dimension. For instance, Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran, and political support from Syria. Following the end of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon in 2000, its military strength grew significantly.[18][19] Despite a June 2008 certification by the United Nations that Israel had withdrawn from all Lebanese territory,[20] in August, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands." Since 1992, the organisation has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.
In Nigeria, this Yusifiyya Movement, also known as Boko Haram has been defined as (figuratively, "Western or non-Islamic education is a sin") “as a Nigerian terrorist Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law in the northern states of Nigeria.[2] The group presently has an undefined structure and chain of command. The official name of the group is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".[3] The literal translation is "Association of Sunnis for the Propagation of Islam and for Holy War". It became known internationally following sectarian violence in Nigeria in 2009. On ‘UN House bombing: Why we struck-Boko Haram’ one Abu Kakah said, “the sect considered the US, the UN and the Nigerian government as common enemies and would continue to attack them because they are infringing on the rights of the Muslims”. (Vanguard, 28 August, 2011). This is a reminder to the aborted attempt by a twenty-three year old Nigerian, Farouk Abdul-Mutallab to bomb a US Detroit airline on the 25th December, 2009.
Down to Nigeria, the insurgency of Boko Haram fighters who kill innocent Nigerians in series of unprovoked and impromptu attacks cannot be unconnected with Islamic fundamentalism targeted against the elimination of western values so as to save Islamic values. So clash of values (Western and Islamic) now becomes one of the reasons why global mankind cannot know peace. “In an interview with a foreign radio, deputy leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau who had been purportedly killed by Nigerian security forces alongside other Boko Haram fighters in an all-out war against the group in July last year, was threatening fire and brimstone. Claiming to be alive and well, Shekau said he had taken command of the Boko Haram group since his principal, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed last year. He said his group would continue to wage war against Western interests within and outside Nigeria until victory was won”. (Daily SUN,Tuesday, August 3, 2010) People now live in terror. The question is where and who next will involved.
Etymologically, the group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".
Ideologically, Boko Haram opposes not only Western education, but Western culture and modern science as well.[9] In a 2009 BBC interview, Mohammed Yusuf, then the group's leader, stated that he rejects the fact that the earth is a sphere and views it as contrary to Islam, along with Darwinism and the fact that rain comes from water evaporated by the sun.[5]
Historically, the group came into existence in the 1960's,[citation needed] but only started to draw attention in 2002. Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf became its leader in the same year. In 2004 it moved to Kanamma, Yobe State, where it set up a base called "Afghanistan", used to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers.[10] Yusuf is hostile to democracy and the secular education system, vowing that "this war that is yet to start would continue for long" if the political and educational system was not changed.[11]
Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: "Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors". Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with western society. This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president. Since the Sokoto caliphate, which ruled parts of what is now northern Nigeria, Niger and southern Cameroon, fell under British control in 1903, there has been resistance among the area's Muslims to Western education. Many Muslim families still refuse to send their children to government-run "Western schools", a problem compounded by the ruling elite which does not see (Western-style/secular) education as a priority. Against this background, the charismatic Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, formed Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2002. He set up a religious complex, which included a mosque and an Islamic school. Many poor Muslim families from across Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries, enrolled their children at the school. But Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis to fight the state. [12]
In Bauchi the group, Boko Haram was reported as refusing to mix with the local people. The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and speak only in Arabic.[13][14]
But residents of Maiduguri, where it was formed in 2002, dubbed it Boko Haram. Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden. Residents gave it the name because of its strong opposition to Western education, which it sees as corrupting Muslims.[4] The term "Boko Haram" comes from the Hausa word boko meaning "Animist, western or otherwise non-Islamic education" and the Arabic word haram figuratively meaning "sin" (literally, "forbidden").[5][6][7][8]
Clash with the state
In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, following reports that the group was arming itself. Several leaders were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people.[15][16][17]
Attacks by Boko Haram
Prior to the clashes, many Muslim leaders and at least one military official had warned the authorities about Boko Haram. Those warnings were reportedly ignored.[17]
In the state of Yobe, fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station.[19] On 30 July, allegations were made that Yusuf himself was killed by Nigerian security forces after being taken into custody.[20]
In January 2010, the group struck again in the Nigerian state of Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.[21]
On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State.[22]
In December 2010, Boko Haram were blamed for a market bombing, following which 92 of its members were arrested by police.[23]
On Friday January 28, 2011, the Borno state candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) for the April 2011 gubernatorial elections was assassinated, along with his brother, four police officers and a 12-year old boy. Boko Haram has been blamed for these killings, other commentators have noted that the assasination of the ANPP governorship candidate Mr. Modu Fannami Gubio was politically motivated. No evidence has been offered for Boko Haram's involvement. [24] [25]
On March 29, police “thwarted a plot to bomb an [ANPP] election rally” in Maiduguri, Borno State (map). The threat was blamed on Boko Haram.
On April 1 (the day before the original date of Nigeria’s legislative elections), suspected Boko Haram members attacked a police station in Bauchi (map).
On April 9, a polling center in Maiduguri was bombed.
On April 15, the Maiduguri office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was bombed, and several people were shot in a separate incident on the same day. Authorities suspected Boko Haram.
On April 20, Boko Haram killed a Muslim cleric and ambushed several police officers in Maiduguri.
On April 22, Boko Haram freed 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State (map)[26]
On Tuesday February 8, 2011, Boko Haram gave conditions for peace. The radicals demanded that the Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should step down from office with immediate effect and also allow members to reclaim their mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. [27] On 9th May 2011 Boko Haram rejected an offer for amnesty made by the governor-elect of Borno state, Kashim Shettima[28]
Boko Haram was blamed for a series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29, 2011 that left 15 dead.[29]
On June 17, 2011, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing attack on the police force headquarters in Abuja that occurred the previous day. Officials believed that the attack was the first suicide bombing in Nigeria's history and that it specifically targeted Police Inspector-General Hafiz Ringim.[30]
On June 26, 2011, the sect carried out a bombing attack on a beer garden in Maiduguri, according to officials and witnesses. Militants on motorcycles threw explosives into the drinking spot, killing about 25 people.[31]
On June 27, 2011, another bombing in Maiduguri attributed to the group killed at least two girls and wounded three customs officials.[32]
On July 03, 2011, a bombing in a beer garden in Maiduguri attributed to the group killed at least twenty people.[33]
On July 10, 2011, a bombing at a church the All Christian Fellowship Church in Suleja, Niger State. [34]
On July 11, 2011, the University of Maiduguri closed its Institution down citing security concerns. [35]
The prominent Muslim Cleric Liman Bana was shot dead by Boko Haram on August 12, 2011. He died after sustaining gunshot wounds while walking home from conducting prayers at the main mosque in Ngala.[36]
On August 26, the UN headquarter in Abuja was blown up by a suicide car bomber, leaving at least 18 dead and dozens more injured.[37]
When we reflect on series of targeted bomb attacks around the world most of which kill innocent citizens, especially, the incessant bomb explosions that occur in Nigeria such as the one marked the nation’s jubilee anniversary on October 1, 2010 in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, the bomb blast at Force Headquarters in Abuja, the bombing of UN house et cetera, we see a country where the citizens kill their fellow citizens (innocent citizens) in a senseless, barbaric and an unjust cause as if the killers are super humans and untouchable. The question is; can any of these killer-bombers create human hair or replace their dead victims? How can the world best pursue global peace and security? What is the gain in killing harmless and innocent people? This is act of cowardice, foolishness and sheer ignorance. I wish true muslims preach peace and declares no war against innocent souls and those who do not fight them, lest l call it religious or politically-motivated cowardice and madness. Read more the position of the Koran and the book of wisdom (Bible) on believers and non-believers or what they call ‘infidels’.
But, why do the terrorists’ attacks target the US most often? As Jubril Aminu, a one-time Nigerian Ambassador to the US and House Committee Chairman on foreign affairs singled out America’s foreign policy in the Middle East as the number one reason for the escalation of world-wide terrorism against the American State and its interests. “A lot of Muslims are not happy with America’s evident support of Israel against the Palestinians”.
Tactics
Suicide attacks
See also: Suicide attack
An increasingly popular tactic used by terrorists is suicide bombing.[158] This tactic is used against civilians, soldiers, and government officials of the regimes the terrorists oppose. The use of suicide bombers is seen by many Muslims[weasel words] as contradictory to Islam's teachings;[159][160] however, groups who support its use often refer to such attacks as "martyrdom operations" and the suicide-bombers who commit them as "martyrs" (Arabic: shuhada, plural of "shahid"). The bombers, and their sympathizers often believe that suicide bombers, as martyrs (shaheed) to the cause of jihad against the enemy, will receive the rewards of paradise for their actions.
Hijackings
Islamic terrorism sometimes employs the hijacking of passenger vehicles. The most famous were the "9/11" attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on a single day in 2001, effectively ending the era of aircraft hijacking.
Kidnappings and executions
Along with bombings and hijackings, Islamic terrorists have made extensive use of highly publicised kidnappings and executions, often circulating videos of the acts for use as propaganda. A frequent form of execution by these groups is decapitation, another is shooting. In the 1980s, a series of abductions of American citizens by Hezbollah during the Lebanese Civil War resulted in the 1986 Iran–Contra affair. During the chaos of the Iraq War, more than 200 kidnappings foreign hostages (for various reasons and by various groups, including purely criminal) gained great international notoriety, even as the great majority (thousands) of victims were Iraqis. In 2007, the kidnapping of Alan Johnston by Army of Islam resulted in the British government meeting a Hamas member for the first time.
Internet recruiting
In the beginning of the 21st century emerged a worldwide network of hundreds of web sites that inspire, train, educate and recruit young Muslims to engage in jihad against America and the West, taking less prominent roles in mosques and community centers that are under scrutiny. According to The Washington Post, "Online recruiting has exponentially increased, with Facebook, YouTube and the increasing sophistication of people online".[161]
Terrorist threat causes insecurity of lives and peoples properties. This particular evil called ‘terrorism’ has put global mankind to live in fear and insecurity for tomorrow. The world is becoming more insecure for our habitation. Therefore, governments and countries around the world must come out with a coordinated and all-inclusive terror-counter strategy so as to enthrone a world where peace and harmony and social justice without expression religious fanaticism will be the order of the day. There must also be a coordinated global network of vigilance and information for quick detection of terrorist threats, their perpetrators and sponsors so that this world can be rid off this deadly monster called terrorism which put people in perpetual fear all the time. This is food for thought for Nigeria.
WRITTEN BY:
CHRIS O. OGABIDO
chrisogabido1@yahoo.com
NIGERIA |
AYR
11th July 2011 |
I feel like I am getting the run around on this website, I am looking for terror tactics etc on Mali and not getting anywhere. Very Confusing! |
Daymein Vines
30th May 2011 |
This cite is so help-full |
Aaron
1st November 2010 |
Yea ireland or northern ireland should be top of the list by far there are about 20plus groups. not a very reliable table more terrorists groups in northern ireland than the entire middle east FACT |
hewhocannotbenamed
2nd September 2010 |
only one in the u.s.? really? i can think of several right off the top of my head. |
YoMama
23rd April 2010 |
When was this posted!!!!!!!!!!!! |
john
6th April 2010 |
how many of those are islamic |
frank
22nd February 2010 |
Many UK terrorism groups are based in Northern Ireland. Check UDA, UVF and LVF etc |
Kenn Dawg
8th February 2010 |
Web site muy confuso. |
mkk
24th October 2009 |
Wow, UK before Iraq? Huh. |
westwind (Nederlands)
19th February 2009 |
not coorect, Somalia here #40, but actully must be #2 after Afganstan. |
Mark P. (Edmonton, Canada)
30th August 2007 |
I personally have to agree with the comment above. A full disclosure of total national population would certainly increase validity to the overall statistic. |
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