Comoros anticipates terrorist ideology with swift strike

Nora Bandari

Cross-border terrorism has received successive painful blows, the latest of which was Sunday, February 26, when the Comoros Ministry of Interior issued a decision to place 69 entities on the terrorist list, some of them in Middle Eastern countries, such as the Brotherhood and the Houthis, while others are active in African and Asian countries, like Boko Haram in Nigeria.

The Comoros decision came a few days after the Permanent Commission of the Congress of Paraguay approved on February 23 considering the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group.

Multiple terrorist entities

Among the entities that the Comoros has placed on the terrorist list are al-Qaeda, ISIS, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya in Egypt, the Houthis in Yemen, and all organizations linked to the Lebanese Hezbollah, in addition to the Brotherhood.

This classification came in conjunction with the conclusion of the 36th session of the African Union, which was held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, from February 18-20, and the announcement that Comoros President Azali Assoumani would assume the rotating presidency of the African Union for a year, succeeding Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Assoumani’s message

This decision was expected, especially since the issue of combating terrorism was one of the most prominent on the agenda of the African Summit. Therefore, Assoumani, whose country holds the AU presidency for the first time, wanted to send a message to these terrorist entities to the effect that Africa will not tolerate any terrorist organization that threatens the security and stability of the continent’s countries and that African governments will step up their actions during the coming period to defeat any suspicious activities launched by these entities.

The Comoros placing the Houthi militia in Yemen on the terrorist list reveals an African fear that the activity of this rebel militia will extend to the countries of the continent.

Right move

Yemeni political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher explained that the classification of the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization by the Comoros is a correct step and coincides with the Arab League’s decision to label it as a terrorist group, as it is aware of the danger posed by the militia in the future.

Taher pointed out in a special statement to the Reference that observers find terrorist groups developing in a specific region, then growing, and then spreading to various parts of the world, so the Comoros preceded the invasion of this terrorist ideology with such decisions that may limit its arrival in peaceful countries.

Defeating terrorism

For his part, Yemeni political analyst Mutahar al-Raida said that exposing extremist and ideological groups that work to destabilize the security and stability of homelands has become an international trend to show their true nature and the extent of the damage they cause in societies, whether Arab, Islamic or global.

He added in a special statement to the Reference that the Comoros decision to classify the Brotherhood and the Houthis as terrorist organizations serves as a protection for the people and children of the Comoros from destructive ideas, in addition to preserving the country’s national security in all political, economic, intellectual and security aspects. Because these terrorist organizations are like cancer, they spread across all countries and penetrate all borders, and this makes the international community work to fully expose these groups and classify them as terrorist organizations.

Raida noted that this classification will have a significant impact on these groups in limiting their activities around the world, tracking their suspicious activities, and cracking down on their leaders, adding that this is the beginning of the international community’s attempt to eliminate terrorism and its various means of financing, as well as to impose security and peace among the peoples of the world.