Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation by heartless and self-minded people to seek political aims. Terrorism can be traced as far back as the 1st century AD with the Sicarii Zealots in Judea who randomly assassinated Roman collaborators. Today terrorism has spread on a global scale inciting fear and panic in the lives of normal citizens.
There are several terrorist groups terrorizing the world today, some examples of the deadliest ones are groups like ISIL, BOKO-HARAM, ALQAEDA, TALIBAN, HEZBOLLAH, HAMAS and many others.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): ISIL is a Sunni-jihadist terrorist organization that is based in the Middle East and lead by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The goal of ISIL is to establish itself as a caliphate, an Islamic state controlled by different religious leaders who all fall under supreme leader known as the caliph, who is believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad.
ISIL is popularly known for carrying out beheadings, suicide bombings and co-ordinated attacks on territories in the Middle East. Most of their operations are based in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi-Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Algeria. This organization according to a CIA report has about 31,000 fighters.
Boko-Haram: Also known as al-Wilāyat al-Islāmiyya Gharb Afrīqiyyah is a terror group based in West-Africa (Islamic State West Africa Province ISWAP). The group advocates against western education and its spread. The group was previously lead by Abubakar Shekau until August 2016, when Abu Musab al-Barnawi was announced by ISIL as the new leader of the group.
In 2015 Boko-haram pledged allegiance to ISIL and is currently the most deadly terrorist organization in the world. The group since it started in 2009 has killed over 20,000 people and displaced another 2.3 million people. The group has been known to carry out series of suicide bombing and occupation of territories in Northern Nigeria.
Al-Qaeda: A Sunni militant multi-national organization that was founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam and several other Arab volunteers. The organization is known to have carried out the 9/11 attacks and Bali bombings. It has its tentacles spread all over the Middle East and is responsible for over 4400 deaths from1992-2008. Al-Qaeda stands against what it calls man made laws and fights to replace with a strict form of Sharia law. The organization is also responsible for sectarian violence amongst Muslims.
Apart from these three terrorist organizations there are several other groups around the world that make it a priority to spread panic and fear. All over the world every individual has this thought at the back of their mind. Many people in countries in the Middle East and Africa are afraid of going about their business as usual, because nobody wants to be victims of terrorist attacks.
Almost all the terrorist organization in the world today carries out their activities in God’s name. They claim they are fighting the holy war. Known as the “Jihad” and in the name of this war thousands of people are killed, tens of thousands are injured and millions are rendered homeless. These soldiers that call themselves God’s fighters, kill Muslims also, they bomb mosques and prayer houses. One will in all honesty wonder who they are actually fighting for.
In West-Africa, the activities of terrorist have almost crippled the economy of most of it countries. The Boko-haram terrorist which is now the deadliest terrorist organization in the world is responsible for the highest death. In 2014 they kidnapped over 276 school girls from their dormitory in northern Nigeria. Over 57 escaped immediately, while 200 of these girls are still in the wind. As of early 2015, the Boko-haram terrorist held territories the size of Belgium.
We can ask ourselves this question:
What causes terrorism?
This question has no answer, because terrorism is an opportunistic trend that makes use of certain conditions to spread fear and terror. They use any slightest excuse to take life. They use the excuse of belief, they twist the holy word of God and brainwash their followers into becoming suicide bomber and death squads.
All the terrorist organizations in the Middle East took advantage of the instability of the government and created terror. ISIL took advantage of the situation in Syria, Libya and Iraq and thus they carved out opportunistic caliphates. In West-Africa the Boko-Haram terrorist took advantage of the mass unemployment, illiteracy and government corruption. They slowly built an army and gave the government a run for their money. The Boko-Haram terrorists carved out territories and flew its flag in Northern Nigeria. Nevertheless today the group is divided against itself with two factions coming up; one pledging loyalty to Abubakar Skekau the ousted leader and the other pledging loyalty to Abu Musab al-Barnawi the new leader and Son of the founder of Boko-Haram. Almost all the territories they held have been retaken by the army.
The Al-Qaeda terrorist saw US presence in the Middle East as an invasion. They virtually blamed every negative thing that happened on the US, whether it was their fault or not. They made it their goal to tarnish the image of western countries and turn the minds of people against them. This way they got fighters, loyalist and sympathizers. Anyone that has ever lost a loved one, business or something of importance is a viable target for their strategies. They brainwash students and whoever they could lay their hands upon.
What then is the solution to Global terrorism?
When you look at the root hold of terrorism you find belief. Every terrorist organization thrives on the belief that they are serving a higher purpose which is the misinterpretation of holy books. So let’s look at the solution from two angles.
- Eliminate the conditions that give rise to terrorist activities
- Remove the belief
This sounds simple enough but totally difficult to achieve, while number 2 is close to impossible. You cannot stop people from what they belief, you cannot retrain preachers and those who will twist the word of God.
However we can make a difference, by striving to eliminate all the conditions that give rise to the spread of terrorist activities and surpassing extremist in the preaching of what the holy book actually requires of us.
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