RABAT, September 24 (Itar-Tass) - Terrorism continues to pose a real threat to the countries in Sahel, or sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in West Africa, since the armed groupings operating there have a huge capability for self-organization, for recruiting new members and for proliferating their activity to other regions of the continent, a leading expert of the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism /ACSRT/ said Monday.
The terrorist and criminal essence of the groupings roaming through Africa remains unchanged. In addition to it, they set for themselves a goal of seizing power in Sahel and West Africa for imposing Sharia laws on the regional countries, Madeira said.
To ensure security in the problem regions, which are not a few on the African continent, Madeira proposed to take firm and well-coordinated steps aimed at eradicating the root-causes of terrorism and forestalling the terrorist activity.
He admitted, however, that some African countries have weak spots and vulnerable points, for instance, in what concerns the guarding of their state borders.
His comments came in the wake of the weekend attack by Islamist militants on a major shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, which 62 people dead and more than 170 others wounded.
According to international news analysts, the attackers “knew they were hitting a high-profile symbol of Kenya's economic power in booming Africa.”