As al-Qaida has fragmented, U.S. officials have turned their attention to loosely affiliated groups that present threats of their own. Officials tell The Washington Post that among the steps being considered are drone strikes aimed at terrorists based in North Africa.
During a โseries of secret meetings in recent months,โ the White House began to โconsider for the first time whether to prepare for unilateral strikesโ aimed at terrorist groups operating in North Africa, The Washington Post writes this morning.
As NPRโs Dina Temple-Raston has previously reported, while al-Qaida has โfragmentedโ in recent years because of U.S.-led efforts against the network responsible for the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks, U.S. officialsโ attention has turned to โa loose affiliation of groups that present a diffuse and entirely different threat.โ Those include โal-Qaidaโs arm in Yemen or Islamic militias in Somalia such as al-Shabab โฆ [and] in Nigeria, a local separatist group called Boko Haram.โ
The Post adds today that according to โU.S. officialsโ involved in the discussions, there have been talks about terrorists in Mali and other parts of North Africa who have been linked to al-Qaida, have been โacquiring weapons from post-revolution Libyaโ and have been tied to last monthโs attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. The newspaper writes that:
โU.S. officials said the discussions have focused on ways to help regional militaries confront al-Qaida but have also explored the possibility of direct U.S. intervention if the terrorist group continues unchecked.
According to the Post, White House officials declined to comment on the record about the discussions.
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