What Ex-British Army Boss Has To Say About Al-Qaeda Attack On Nigeria, Other African Nations

A former head of British Armed Forces, General Sir David Richards has warned that the world needs to pay more attention to the sub-Saharan threat from al-Qaeda. 

Sir Richards who retired last year said Britain needed to learn from what it had done, “and failed to do”.
“I do worry very much that sub-Saharan Africa is the next front
- in many ways it already is,” he said. Despite signs of growth elsewhere in Africa, the militants’ actions had caused widespread disruption and held back the region’s economies.
“We must learn from what we have done and failed to do in other parts of the world in trying to combat this risk and do it pretty quickly or it could become pretty vicious - as if it wasn’t already bad enough,” he said.
Richards recalled that in the past year, Islamist groups have stepped up their activities in several African countries.
In Somalia, African Union troops have been battling with the militant al-Shabab which came to global prominence with its attack on a Kenyan shopping centre earlier this year.
Also, French troops spearheaded the response to Islamist insurgents in Mali.
In Nigeria, a state of emergency has been declared in response to attacks by another group, he said
Richards also questioned whether the NATO operation against Libya in 2011 was the right thing to do, suggesting it may have contributed to the spread of arms in the region.
He added that the campaign was a tactical success but that the jury was still out on whether it was strategically wise.


BBC News