MS Risk Blog

UN Chief Condemns Attack on Church in Central African Republic

On Thursday, the United Nations Secretary-General condemned Wednesday’s attack on a Catholic Church in the Central African Republic’s capital city, Bangui, where at least fifteen people, including a priest, were killed.

Wednesday’s attack on the Notre Dame de Fatima church was a rare large-scale assault on a Christian community in Bangui, with local officials reporting that at least fifteen people, including a priest at the church, were killed.   According to eyewitnesses, Muslim rebels stormed the church, launching grenades and spraying civilians with gunfire.  A police officer and military source have indicated that the violence erupted during the afternoon hours at the compound of the Notre Dame de Fatima Church, where several thousands of displayed people have sought refuge.  The church is located in central Bangui in a neighbourhood where both Christians and Muslims reside.  Archbishop Dieudonne Mzapalainga confirmed that a 76-year-old priest, Paul-Emile Nzale, was killed in the violence.  Witnesses later reported that exchanges of gunfire continued into Wednesday night, mostly near a mainly Muslim neighbourhood of Bangui, where helicopters were seen flying over the area.  With fears escalating that this new bloodshed will spark reprisal attacks on the city’s few remaining Muslims, barricades have been set up in a number of areas.  The attack on the compound at the church is the largest and most brazen attack that has been blamed on Muslim fighters since their Seleka coalition was ousted from power nearly five months ago.  Wednesday’s incident also marked a rare attack on a house of worship, as Catholic churches have served as sanctuaries for both Christian and Muslim civilians.

On Thursday, the situation remained tense throughout Bangui after residents and officials reported that a group of Christian youth destroyed one of the last mosques in the capital city.  A French helicopter was seen patrolling the skies of Bangui while foreign peacekeepers patrolled the streets, firing warning shots in a bid to prevent further hostilities.  Thousands of people also marched in another area of Bangui, shouting slogans against the peacekeeping forces they say have failed to protect them.

Ousmane Abakar, a spokesman for Bangui’s small remaining Muslim community, denounced Wednesday’s attack on the church and has denied that the local Muslim population was to blame.  Speaking to reporters, Mr Abakar stated “for six months we have been the ones subjected to violence and the destruction of our mosques, including the one ruined in the Lakouanga neighbourhood this morning.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also strongly condemned the recent attacks and has encouraged the transitional authority to do “everything within its means to prevent further violence in the capital and throughout the country.”  According to Mr Ban’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, the Secretary-General has also called on authorities to take “concrete measures to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable,” and has appealed to international forces in the CAR “to take all necessary measures in support of these efforts.”

Over the past few months, tens of thousands of Muslims have fled the capital city in a mass exodus following scores of attacks by Christian militia fighters who have blamed them for supporting the Seleka rebel regime, which was ousted from power in January.

Four Girls Return After Being Kidnapped

While reports surfaced late Wednesday indicating that four more girls, kidnapped by Boko Haram militants last month, had escaped than previously believed, authorities in northeast Nigerian on Thursday revised the number and denied reports that the hostages had escaped from the militants in recent days.

On Wednesday, a source at the government in north eastern Borno state had indicated that the number of girls who are currently missing was now 219, not 223 as was previously reported.  Education commissioner Musa Inuwa confirmed that four girls have since been reunited with their parents.  A senior Borno state official also indicated that it remains unclear when they escaped, adding that it may have been several weeks ago, as the parents did not contact authorities when the girls returned.  However on Thursday, authorities in Borno denied these reports, adding that the 223 girls are still missing.

The girls were taking exams at a secondary school in the remote north eastern village of Chibok on April 14 when the militants surrounded it and loaded 276 girls onto trucks and carted them off.  According to authorities in Borno state, fifty-three escaped shortly afterwards.

Wednesday’s reports came just one day after Chief of Defense Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh indicated that the Nigerian military knew where the abducted girls were but ruled out a rescue by force for fear that this would endanger them.  Currently, most officials believe that any raid to rescue the kidnapped girls would run a high risk and that the girls would be killed by their captors as, in the past, Boko Haram has repeatedly showed ruthlessness in targeting civilians.  The United States State Department also indicated Tuesday that it did not have information, which could “support Nigeria’s claim it has located the kidnapped girls.”

The girls abduction has placed the militant group in an international spotlight. Its violent bid to establish an Islamist state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands of people over the past five years and has transformed them into the biggest threat to security in Africa’s top-oil producing state, with international officials now fearing it will develop into a regional issue.

Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility for Attack In Djibouti and Threatens Further Bombings

Days after a terrorist attack in Djibouti, al-Shabaab has released a statement, claiming responsibility for the attack and vowing to continue if the Horn of Africa nation does not withdraw its troops from Somalia and prevents the United States from maintaining its largest military base in Africa.

On Saturday evening, three people were killed, including two bombers and a Turkish national, while several foreigners, including seven French nationals, four Germans, three Spanish and several locals, were wounded after an attack on the La Chaumiere restaurant.  In the first attack of its kind in the small Horn of Africa state, a man and woman blew themselves up at a restaurant that was filled with Western military personnel.  Officials from Spain indicated Monday that three of its air force personnel, in Djibouti as part of the European Union naval mission EUNAVFOR Atalanta were hurt, one of whom was seriously wounded by shrapnel.  The Pentagon has indicated that no US Defence Department personnel were wounded.

At the time of the attack, many officials, including the Djibouti’s President, believed that the attack was linked to Djibouti’s ongoing military deployment in Somalia, where troops make up the African Union mission (AMISOM) force that is battling al-Shabaab militants and attempting to stabilize Somalia.  Djibouti also hosts military base’s for France and the United States.  These suspicions was confirmed Tuesday, when al-Shabaab released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.

On Tuesday, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the weekend bomb attack on a restaurant in Djibouti, urging the Horn of Africa nation and key Western ally to expel foreign forces and to shut down the United States’ main Africa base, or the country will face a wave of more serious attacks.

A group statement released Tuesday indicated “as part of the ongoing Jihad against the Western-led Crusade against Islam, Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen forces have on Saturday night carried out a successful operation against the coalition of Western Crusaders based in Djibouti.”  The group stated that the attack “targeted a restaurant frequented predominantly by French Crusaders and their NATO allies from the US, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, resulting in 35 casualties.”  The statement further added “the attack was carried out against French Crusaders for their complicity in the massacres and persecution of our Muslim brothers in the Central African Republic and for their active role in training and equipping the apostate Djiboutian troops in Somalia and their growing intervention in the affairs of our Muslim lands.”  While in its statement, al-Shabaab indicated that Saturday’s attack resulted in thirty-five casualties, adding that two “senior French commanders” were also killed, local officials have stated that only three people, a Turkish national and two suicide bombers, died in the attack, with several others wounded.

The group also indicated that the attack was carried out in retaliation for Djibouti’s hosting of the United States’ largest military base in Africa.  The US base is used for operations across the region, including drone strikes against the militant group in Somalia.  Troops from Djibouti are also part of the African Union (AU) force that is in Somalia to fight al-Shabaab.

A part of al-Shabaab’s statement was also directed at Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, stating “having assented to the terms of the contract in the war against Islam with Barack Obama and having allowed access of your land and facilities to the Crusaders, you have voluntarily signed a deal with the devil,” adding “this attack is just the beginning; its merely the preliminary response that will soon follow – should you refuse to desist – will be far worse.”  Al-Shabaab has called on Djibouti to “pull your apostate troops out of Somalia immediately and expel all the Crusaders,” adding “failure to do so would incur far-reaching repercussions for your country, both in terms of your security and economy.”

The attack in Djibouti comes a week after al-Shabaab warned that its war would be moving to Kenya.  The militant group has also previously threatened Uganda, another country that has troops deployed in Somalia, that it will attack its citizens.  Al-Shabaab has carried out many gun and bomb attacks outside of Somalia, including an assault on a Kenyan shopping mall last year that killed sixty-seven people.  The militant group also demonstrated its capabilities of travelling long distances in order to carry out attacks.  The attack in Djibouti came on the same day as the attack on the Somali parliament in Mogadishu, which killed at least ten security officers.

Al-Shabaab Warns of Greater Focus on Kenya

One of al-Shabaab’s top commanders vowed Thursday to redirect the militant group’s war to neighboring Kenya, urging fighters to launch attacks.

In a radio broadcast, Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, one of al-Shabaab’s most senior commanders stated “the war will be shifting to Kenya, if they kill a Somali girl we kill a Kenyan girl,” adding “we are urging all Muslims in Kenya…to fight the government of Kenya inside the country, because Kenyans killed your people including children.”  Khalaf, who is viewed as second in command after chief Ahmed Abdi Godane, also noted “when their soldiers and war planes kill your people, God permits you to retaliate accordingly, we will fight the Kenyans.”  This remark is likely linked to the recent air strikes that have targeted al-Shabaab bases in southern Somalia.  The speech comes just days after fighters jets, believed to be from Kenya, struck al-Shabaab strongholds in southern Somalia earlier this week.  The air strikes are part of the latest push by African Union (AU) forces against the militant group.

The United States has offered a US $5 million bounty for Khalaf, who holds both Somali and Swedish nationality.  Khalaf, who the US says is both an al-Shabaab military commander and key fundraiser, reportedly spent over a decade in the Swedish capital Stockholm.

In the past few months, Kenya has seen a sharp rise in attacks on its soil, many of which have been linked to Islamist extremists.  This rise demonstrates al-Shabaab’s shift in tactics, moving its focus partially from Somalia and more onto Kenya in the hopes that the Kenyan government will withdraw its troops from the Somali mission.  This increase in attacks has prompted countries such as France, Britain, Australia and the United States to issue travel warnings.  They have advised their nationals to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and the capital, Nairobi.  Last week, a double bomb attack in a Nairobi market left ten people dead and scores wounded, with more similar attacks likely to occur in the coming months.

On Tuesday, the AU force in Somalia confirmed that it had conducted new air strikes against a rebel base in the southern region of Somalia, the second air strike to be carried out in the past three days.

A statement issued by AMISOM indicates that its planes were after “senior leadership and foreign al-Shabaab fighters, at a base located near the town of Jilib, in Somalia’s Middle Jubba region.  The statement also claimed that fifty insurgents were killed in the attack, which “further debilitated al-Shabaab’s capacity to wreak havoc and terrorize innocent Somali civilians.”  A spokesman for al-Shabaab however has stated that only farmland was hit and that five civilians were wounded, adding “the claim of AMISOM is baseless and pure propaganda.”  Witnesses in the area have reported that there were several civilians hurt, however they had not information on any al-Shabaab casualties.  One local resident, Moalim Hassan, stated “we heard very big explosions as military jets flew over the town.  Two of the bombs landed near Faragurow village leaving four civilians wounded but we don’t know about other casualties they may have caused.”  The airstrikes on the town of Jilib are understood to be part of the offensive by the 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force, who in March launched a fresh bid to gain control of the remaining towns under al-Shabaab’s control.  The impoverished town is a key al-Shabaab hub in southern Somalia’s Middle Jubba region, and is located some 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.  It remains unclear where the jets are from, however Kenya, which is part of the AU force, has used its jets to strike al-Shabaab bases before.

CIA Ends Vaccine Programme

On Tuesday, the White House confirmed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has ended the use of vaccine programmes in its spying operations amidst concerns for the safety of health workers.  In a letter to US public health schools, a White House aide indicated that the CIA had stopped such practices in August 2013.

In a letter dated 16 May, the White House assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, Lisa Monaco, wrote that CIA director John Brennan had directed the agency to cease “operational use of vaccine programmes.”  The letter further indicated, “similarly, the agency will not seek to obtain or exploit DNA or other genetic material acquired through such programmes,” adding that the policy applied worldwide to US and non-US persons alike.

The CIA had used a fake vaccine programme in a bid to locate Osama Bin Laden before US Special Forces killed in May 2011.  Genetic material obtained through a fake door-to-door hepatitis B vaccination programme reportedly helped the CIA confirm Bin Laden’s whereabouts in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.  The Pakistani doctor accused of running the vaccination campaign remains in jail.  Dr Shakil Afridi was convicted of having ties to militant groups, which he has denied.  He was imprisoned in 2012 in a move that is widely seen as punishment for his helping the CIA, with sources indicating that he is regarded as a traitor by Pakistan’s security agencies.

The CIA’s decision to end the use of vaccine programmes in its spying operations comes after a wave of deadly attacks by militants on polio vaccination workers in Pakistan.  According to CIA spokesman Dean Boyd, “by publicizing this policy, our objective is to dispel one canard that militant groups have used as justification for cowardly attacks against vaccination providers.”

However despite the CIA ending the programme in August, a number of health workers have been targeted, kidnapped or killed as militants suspected that they were either CIA agents or had links to it.  Since January, sixty-six cases of polio have been declared in Pakistan, compared with only eight during the same period last year.  The geographical spread of the cases suggests that they are mostly sourced to the north-western Wairistan tribal region.  Militants who control this region have banned vaccinations, citing that health workers may include American spies.    In turn, more than sixty polio workers and security personnel were killed in the country between December 2012 and April 2014.  According to Pakistani officials and humanitarian workers, most of them were killed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

While the CIA’s announcement of ending such vaccination programmes is seen as a positive step, the CIA’s spokesman has warned that “many obstacles” still remain and will likely stand in the way of vaccination programmes.  These include myths that vaccinations cause sterility or HIV along with claims that they are spy programmes run by Western governments.  Mr Boyd noted “while the CIA can do little about the former, the CIA director felt he could do something important to dispel the latter and he acted,” adding “it is important to note that militant groups have a long history of attacking humanitarian aid workers in Pakistan and those attacks began years before the raid against the Bin Laden compound and years before any press reports claiming a CIA-sponsored vaccination programme.”

In Pakistan, the decision will likely be welcomed, as polio has been spreading fast since the Taliban banned the vaccination campaign two years ago.  Prior to the release of the letter, Professor Ibrahim Khan, an intermediary for the Taliban, had indicated that the militants wanted assurances that the vaccination programme was not being used for other purposes.  He further added that he was hopeful that the Taliban would then lift the ban on the vaccine.  However this is contingent on the success of peace negotiations with the Pakistani government.  Currently, the talks have stalled, with the Ministry of Interior indicating that access to the polio vaccination will lead the agenda in the next round of talks.