November 11, (THEWILL) – Terrorism is intensifying across Africa, exploiting instability and conflict, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, has said.
“Terrorists and violent extremists, including Da’esh, Al-Qaida and their affiliates, have exploited instability and conflicts, to increase their activities and intensify attacks across the continent.
“Their senseless, terror-fueled violence has killed and wounded thousands.
“And many more continue to suffer from the broader impact of terrorism on their lives and livelihoods”, she said at the UN Security Council high-level debate on Counter-Terrorism in Africa.
“Terrorist and violent extremist groups aggravate instability and human suffering, and they can plunge a country emerging from war back into the depths of conflict”, Mohammed said.
She noted that terrorists, non-state armed groups, and criminal networks, who often had different agendas and strategies, fuelled by smuggling, human trafficking, and other methods of illicit financing, sometimes impersonate legitimate armed forces.
“In today’s hyper-connected world, the spread of terrorism in Africa is not a concern for African member states alone.
“The challenge belongs to us all. Countering international terrorism requires effective multilateral responses”, she stressed.
The UN deputy chief called for community-based, and gender-sensitive “whole-of-society” approaches.
She suggested other ways of fighting terrorism including “sustained and predictable funding.”
