The name of the essay is “The Bioterrorist Threat of Ebola in East Africa and Implications for Global Health and Security” by Amanda M. Teckman. The author writes on the outbreak of Ebola in Africa which alarmed the global health. The disease made its appearance in East and central Africa according to the virus. The essay also alleges that terrorist groups use the virus to infect people who then move in the countries and cause a high human casualty in these countries (Teckman). The essay alleges that the virus is spread by terrorists who infect some of their soldiers, mostly suicide bombers, who act as carriers of the virus inside the African countries.
I refute with the idea of the author that the terrorists are using Ebola as a weapon. There are no cases that are reported of any terrorist group that ever carried out the virus and used it as a weapon in any country in the East African region. The only known terrorist group in the region is Al-Shabaab al Mujahedeen, a group that has been linked to the great Al-Qaeda. The group has been known to attack through weapons of mass destruction like bombs; hand grenades and raids carried out by the use of the Ak-47 sub machine gun. The most recent known attack was in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. They used rifles to shoot at unsuspecting shoppers who were going on with their daily business. It caused deaths of almost one hundred people injuring dozens of people. The same has been witnessed in Uganda where a group of people watching football at a local bar was bombed killing dozens.
The article states that Al-Qaeda is not a group that is linked to any terrorist groups in the region (Teckman). The only terrorist group known in the region is one known as Al-Shabaab. There are no other groups that have ever been noted down in the east African countries. The group is located in the destabilized Somalia where it engages in its operations. It’s a known branch of the Al-Qaeda and has received a lot of support from al-Qaeda to do its operations. An example is one of the most wanted females in Kenya known as Samantha Lewthwaite a British-born Al-Qaeda Jihadist. She is known for the Westgate Mall attack which killed a lot of people. She has also been linked with the smuggling of weapons and other necessary equipment for the use by Al-Shabaab.
Based on the same issue of Al-Qaeda, it has also carried its attacks on Tanzanian and Kenyan soils mostly aiming the American living in Kenya. They have bombed hotels and embassies that are affiliated with American owners and have caused major damages. They have carried out this attacks, and this shows that they are highly linked to the region. The late terror master Osama Bin Laden has been one major icon renowned for these attacks in the regions before he was killed. The attacks by Al-Qaeda in the region mostly aim Americans and other European nationalities in the country while the Al-Shabaab mostly aims for the local natives of the country as well as people of American origin (Davis 20). Therefore, it shows no basis in the article claiming that Al-Qaeda is not involved in the terror attacks in the region.
The mode of the attacks for the years has never changed and the reports from local intelligence from both the CIA and local intelligence state that the groups target groups which they kill through high level weapons causing collateral damage. These attacks are directed to Christians or non-Muslims whom the group refers to as “Kafir” (Davis 10). They do not make attacks that kill Muslims and the use of the virus will attack the whole population including both Muslims and non-Muslims. This would have changed the groups aim and strategy which they stick to and adhere so as to make sure that they are still effective. After the military invention by Kenya and UN troops, the group has lost contact, and it is staging areas where they could acquire the technology to carry the virus.
Ebola has made several outbreaks in Uganda, and none has ever been linked to the terror groups. The other East African countries have never been affected by the virus. The main target of the group remains to be Kenya where there are no reported cases of Ebola as from the year 2012 as reported in the essay. Major attacks that have been carried out have been through militarily weapons. Although the group has remained to be one of the biggest terror groups alongside Boko Haram of Nigeria, none of them has used the Ebola virus to cause any damage.
The main themes to refute in the essay are the number of terror groups and the tactics that they have been using to carry out attacks. The virus has also been witnessed in West Africa with other parts of Africa not witnessing the virus at all.
Works Cited
Davis, John. Africa and the War on Terrorism. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate Pub. Internet resource.
Teckman, Amanda M. The Bioterrorist Threat of Ebola in East Africa and Implications for Global Health Security. (2013) Print.
