Taking on Africa’s armed groups
African leaders at a summit in Kenya say the continent must work together to combat the “scourge of terrorism”.
Presidents and prime ministers in Africa have been facing up to the threat of armed groups at home and beyond their borders.
Leaders held a summit in Kenya’s capital Nairobi to agree a response to end what they called a “growing extremist threat”.
The presidents of Kenya, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda were among those attending the meeting, along with the prime ministers of Namibia and Algeria.
Hours before it started, the US carried out air raids against al-Shabab targets in Somalia.
The Chadian president, Idriss Deby, told the conference: “Terrorism and organised crime compels us to take action.”
The summit followed a meeting of security and intelligence chiefs in Nairobi on Saturday, which raised concerns about threats from the Islamic State group which has taken over large areas of Iraq and Syria.
So can African leaders win the fight against home-grown armed groups? And is a bigger threat looming from the Islamic State?
Presenter: Nick Clark
Guests:
Ayo Johnson – founder and director of View Point Africa.
David Cook – a professor in religious studies at Rice University and author of the book ‘Understanding Jihad‘.
Mustafa Ali – former secretary general of the African Council of Religious Leaders and a specialist on conflicts in Africa.