Al Qaeda getting stronger by the day, especially in Africa

What is it that Obama said about Al Qaeda after killing Osama bin Laden?   Was it:  The network is fragmented and on the run?  The head is cut off?  Al Qaeda is of no consequence now?  

What a delusional prez .... and to make matters worse, his country is full of equally delusional dhimmis who voted him in for a second term.  Osama bin Laden might be dead but the Muslims' evil cult lives on.

Go to the link and read the entire article.  You will learn of  things most of us didn't  know about before now.

Charlie Edwards, Senior Research Fellow writing at RUSI:
.....The attack on the Al-Amenas facility   in Algeria earlier in the year reveals the nexus between organised crime and terrorism in West Africa. This has major implications for the international community and requires greater support to national governments in the region.

Late last month, UK Border Force officials seized cocaine valued at over £17 million at the Port of Tilbury in Essex. While the value of the drugs is not the largest on record, what makes this particular seizure of interest is that the drugs are believed to have been smuggled via Senegal to Europe by an Al-Qa'ida affiliated group. If confirmed, this will be the first time an Islamist terrorist group has attempted to ship a considerable amount of Class A drugs directly to Europe from West Africa and is a significant step for Al-Qa'ida in the Maghreb (AQIM) in terms of both funding and operations. Officials believe the cocaine was part of a major deal between AQIM and FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) who provided cocaine in return for weapons the Islamist terrorist group had procured - possibly from Libya. The seizure of such a large volume of drugs suggests a transnational network not seen since FARC and the IRA collaborated in the early years of the last decade.

The link between AQIM and drug traffickers in West Africa is becoming clearer. Dr Kwesi Aning, Director of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana suggested recently that a decade ago the trade was dominated by Tuaregs and middlemen who guided traffickers to water and fuel dumps in the desert.

Ten years later, and after Al-Qa'ida became involved, there has been a massive increase in the quantities of cocaine involved. The conflict in Libya has made the region even more dangerous with a growth in available weapons and material - some of which have been sold in exchange for a variety of contraband items including drugs. A UN report cited multiple cases - both proven and under investigation - of illicit transfers from Libya to more than twelve countries of heavy and light weapons, man-portable air defence systems, small arms, related ammunition and explosives. Belgian-manufactured landmines originally supplied to Qadhafi's army appear to have been by Mokhtar Belmokhtar's group in their attack on the Al-Amenas gas facility in January this year.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that AQIM has a long established link in the global drug trafficking network, having traded in opium and marijuana from countries such as Morocco to Europe. For example, the Al-Qa'ida inspired attack on the transport network in Madrid in 2004 is believed to have been  ..........

......Maritime piracy is usually associated with the waters off the coast of Somalia, but is an increasing problem in the Gulf of Guinea. Fifty-eight incidents were recorded in 2012, including ten hijackings and 207 crew members taken hostage. Much of this activity is linked to the regional oil industry and the existence of a booming black market for oil. Most of the attacks are simple robberies that yield relatively low profits for the criminals, but the frequency of the attacks drives insurance premiums up, which in turn decreases the use of West African ports for shipping and deprives regional Governments of vital income......

......The region's lawlessness was blamed for the now infamous 'Air Cocaine' incident in 2009. A Boeing 727 was found burnt-out in the Malian desert. The plane was believed to have been carrying up to 10 tonnes of cocaine. While officials originally thought the plane had crashed, investigators believe that the plane was burnt deliberately after it had landed and the cocaine had been removed. In 2010, a Malian police commissioner was convicted in connection with attempts to build an airstrip in the desert for future landings......