US General: Terrorist Threat in Africa Goes Beyond Ideology
March 09, 2017 9:07 PM
Carla Babb
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PENTAGON —
Even if extremist groups in Africa were wiped out militarily, the continent's massive population of young people would continue to be susceptible to terror groups because of a lack of economic opportunity, the general in charge of U.S. military operations there said Thursday.
Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said the economic crisis confronting African youth was "the biggest challenge" on the continent.
"We could knock off all the ISIL and Boko Haram this afternoon, [but] by the end of the week, so to speak, those ranks would be filled," Waldhauser said. ISIL is the U.S. military's acronym for the Islamic State group.
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