United States has alerted the Federal Government that the Al-Qaeda terrorist group has started penetrating the country through the north-western region.
This was disclosed by the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Africa, Dagvin Anderson, during a press briefing, according the US Department of State.
He said the dreaded terrorist group is also expanding to other parts of West Africa, pointing out the US will continue to partner with Nigeria in sharing intelligence.
He stated;
We have engaged with Nigeria and continue to engage with them in intel sharing and in understanding what these violent extremists are doing.
And that has been absolutely critical to their engagements up in the Borno State and into an emerging area of northwest Nigeria that we’re seeing al-Qaida starting to make some inroads in.
So, this intelligence sharing is absolutely vital and we stay fully engaged with the government of Nigeria to provide them an understanding of what these terrorists are doing, what Boko Haram is doing, what ISIS-West Africa is doing, and how ISIS and al-Qaida are looking to expand further south into the littoral areas.
Anderson regretted that despite successes recorded in previous years, there has been a setback, adding;
We as a community of international nations, keep thinking we have defeated them or we have put them on their back foot and that they’re just moments from disintegration.
The commander said for international efforts to yield desired results in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, the government must take the lead.
Anderson‘s comment comes amidst an increasing number of security breaches in many parts of the country.
