US: Boko Haram, Daesh are collaborating more

American military officials said two of the world’s most feared terrorist groups — Daesh and Boko Haram — have begun to collaborate more closely, raising alarm that they are working together to attack American allies in North and Central Africa, The New York Times newspaper reported.

On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, the commander of the United States military’s Special Operations in Africa, cited a weapons convoy believed to be from Islamic State fighters in Libya that was headed for the Lake Chad region, an area devastated by Boko Haram.

Military officials described the convoy as one of the first concrete examples of a direct link between the two extremist groups since Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Daesh last year. The shipment, seized near the Chadian border with Libya on April 7, was carrying small-caliber weapons, machine guns and rifles, officials said.

The disclosure came during a tense series of meetings here in the capital of Chad between Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, and top officials like President Idriss Déby, who is expected to announce soon that he won recent elections and will begin his fifth term in office. He seized power in a coup and has governed Chad with a firm hand for 26 years.

“The Lake Chad basin is ground zero” in the fight against militant groups in Africa, General Bolduc said.

He said that beyond Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to Daesh last year, the two groups were sharing “tactics, techniques and procedures.” His comments amplify concerns expressed recently by other American officials that the Islamic State’s branch in Libya is deepening its reach across a wide area of Africa, attracting recruits from countries as far away as Senegal that had been largely immune to the jihadist propaganda.

The rising threat from Daesh in Libya comes as Mr. Obama is being asked by some of his top military and intelligence advisers to approve the broader use of American military force in Libya and Nigeria. Mr. Obama, administration officials said, is mulling how large a military campaign to order for Libya, and whether to approve sending additional Special Operations advisers and trainers to Nigeria.

The Pentagon has proposed spending $200 million this year to help train and equip the armies and security forces of North, Central and West African countries.

Source: MENA