US report says Boko Haram may have anti-aircraft missiles

From Punch

A report by a committee of  the United States House of Representatives has linked the  fundamentalist Islamist sect, Boko Haram to al Shabaab, the terror group that carried out the September 21 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya.

The  report dated September 13, 2013 and entitled, ‘Boko Haram: Growing Threat to the US Homeland’, also acknowledged the growing relationship between the Nigerian sect and another terror group, the Al Qaeda in the land of the Islamic Maghreb.

The  39-page report noted that “while there is no evidence that al Qaeda’s core in Afghanistan and Pakistan commands Boko Haram’s operations, it is clear from the words of multiple US officials and  media reports  that Boko Haram is supportive of, and supported by Al Qaeda networks such as AQIM.”

It noted that “it is the unity of ideology and mutual hatred for the West between the Al Qaeda networks that exposes the danger Boko Haram poses to the U.S Homeland.”

The committee described Boko Haram as a “hardened and sophisticated terror network” that required  multiple simultenous local and international efforts to enhance the capacity and capability of the the Nigerian Police and the military to curtail its activities.

It said there was an urgent need by the US to designate the sect as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation because it has shown  no signs of ending its aggression  against the government of Nigeria and the Western world.

The commiteee wrote, “The world is coming to know more about Boko Haram; their intentions, what they’re capable of, and who is supporting them.

“The US Intelligence Community is working to erase the gaps in our understanding of Boko Haram, but it is already evident they are a serious threat to US interests and potentially to the US Homeland.