The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was established in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) to facilitate international police cooperation. Interpol’s primary focus is on public safety and battles corruption, drug trafficking, child pornography, human trafficking, weapon smuggling, war crimes, genocide, computer crime and intellectual crime among others. It is politically neutral. Its charter has forbidden it from undertaking activities or actions of a religious, military, political, racial matters and it is strictly forbidden to involve itself in such matters.
Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab in East Africa (Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania)
Al-Qaeda has recruited members and had their operations in Africa as a whole and in East Africa in particular. Between 1991 and 1996, Osama Bin Laden was based in Sudan together with other Al-Qaeda leaders. It proved to be a threat since they performed their major works in Africa and they knew Africa too well and would have attacked with little or no stress. However, they knew that the governments here would not let them have an easy time and therefore it was a threat to them making them slow their operations.
In Kenya, the Al-Qaeda had a successful attack in 2002. It was after the U.S embassy bombing which claimed the lives of many, and a car bomb attack on a Mombasa resort hotel which claimed the lives of 15 people. Recently, the Al-Shabab has also had their operations in East Africa. They are mostly found in Somalia as most of them have a Somalia origin. However, they have also recruited other people from the various countries and from different religions.
The Kenyan and the Tanzania defense forces were sent to Somalia to help maintain peace and stability. The Al-shabab had been terrorizing people in Somalia and the neighbouring countries. As a result, they began getting back at the governments by planning attacks at different places and killing many persons. However, the governments have managed to kill some of its members and others have been imprisoned. Stun measures are taken on anyone found with involvement with the said groups. Peace has now dominated and the attacks have decreased within a short period of time. Thanks to the East African governments and the military.
Al-Qaeda in Maghreb (Mali and Algeria) and Boko Haram (Nigeria)
The Al-Qaeda in Maghreb is a militant organization whose aim is to overthrow the Algerian government. It has been declared as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S department of state as they intend to also attack European; Spain and France. Most members are from Algeria and the local Saharan communities. In the last decade, they have been involved in kidnappings and asking for ransom. They have collected more than $50 million that they use in their terror group.
Boko Haram is a militant movement in Nigeria that was also declared a terrorist group in November 2013 by the United States. They have killed more than 5,000 civilians with about 2,000 having been killed early this year. They have also been involved in cases of kidnapping, where they kidnapped 276 school girls and also abducting girls and women.
The Nigerian government has used their army to attack the Boko Haram. The United States have also supported the Nigerian government by sending more soldiers to the country as well as funding the country to ensure that the defense forces are strong enough to fight the terror group. Similarly, the Algerian and Mali governments have used their army and military to fight the terror groups. The United Nations have also been greatly involved in fighting terrorism in Africa as a whole. It is not possible for an individual country to fight the terrorists with no external support from other nations and groups.
