The US State Department has recently announced a variety of rewards for individuals who provide useful information or themselves capture African terrorists linked to militant activities and organizations.
These offers are reported as a response to the growing number and boldness of radical anti-Western guerrilla groups appearing in Africa. Rewards for information on figures from groups known as the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), Boko Haram, and His Signed In Blood Battalion.
The greatest reward offered by the US is set at $7 million for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. He and his radical militant group whose name translates to meaning “Western education is forbidden” is known for openly referring to themselves as the “Nigerian Taliban.”
They have drawn the attention of the US in recent years, especially in the wake of an assault on an United Nations compound in 2011 which left 23 dead. Boko Haram has also claimed responsibility for a variety of attacks directed at Christians and Christian churches. Reports put at least 2,800 individuals killed by the organization to date.
Other large reward offers include $5 for Mokhtar Belmokhtar, leader of the Blood Battalion. The one-eyed Belmkhtar has gained notoriety as a veteran Islamist militant. He and the group have claimed credit for an attack at In Amenas, Algeria earlier this year involving hostages, at least 37 of whom, including three Americans, were killed.
Up to $3 million each is being offered for AQIM figure Malik Abou Abdelkarim and Mujao’s Oumar Oulod Hamaha. Hamaha has been associated with acts of kidnapping and ransom including the abduction of a Canadian diplomat in Niger in 2008.
This new round of rewards offered by the US State Department for terrorists is the latest iteration of a program began in 1984 which has seen considerable success in capturing militants all around the world and stopping acts of terror.
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