In recent weeks a series of incidents have indicated that the issue of armed Muslim extremism remains one of concern in East Africa. Arrests in Nairobi, killings in Mwanza, and an extremist video from Tanga have all in one way or another been associated with the Islamic State group (IS). East Africa Politics & Security looks at whether recent events suggest ties between East Africa’s terrorists and IS.
In Mwanza, in North West Tanzania, three worshippers were killed in an attack on a mosque, on 18 May. One witness described seeing a black flag with Islamic State written on it, another reported that the attackers declared themselves part of IS. The attack is notable for two reasons. Firstly, it targeted believers, not the Tanzanian state. This, along with the brutality of the killings, suggests a level of fanaticism that is not matched by access to arms or other resources.
Secondly, the attackers said they were acting in response to recent arrests; they questioned worshippers for being in the mosque, instead of supporting their detained fellow believer. Police had reportedly been following up on a ‘terrorist group’ in the region, and made some arrests of people involved in martial arts training in a Mwanza neighbourhood. There are two mosques in the suburb, one under the official Tanzanian Muslim umbrella organisation, BAKWATA, the other a Sunni mosque. The karate was connected with the latter. Such martial arts activities appear to be widespread in Tanzania, and are often associated with militant organisation.
The second Tanzanian incident was related to activities in Tanga. On 17 May a video was uploaded to YouTube purportedly from an extremist group in Tanga Region’s Amboni Caves. The five minute video consisted of one speaker, surrounded by armed men, calling on believers across Tanzania to join them in the caves to fight on behalf of those already detained.
It is notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was crudely produced, compared to extremist material from Kenya, suggesting limited access to funds and wider support networks. Secondly, the speaker made no mention of Zanzibar, suggesting that the political situation there is not yet an issue for extremist groups on the mainland. Thirdly, it was widely claimed on social media that the video showed the group pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. No mention was made of IS or its leader in the video.
The video came after a number of armed robberies in Tanga. The Regional Commissioner for Tanga, Martin Shigella, has denied that there were active extremists in the area. Reacting to the crime wave, he blamed illegal immigrants. This seems unlikely. Illegal immigrants are usually desperate, cashless Ethiopians. Minister for Home Affairs (who has since been sacked) Charles Kitwanga’s response to the video, that security services were undertaking an operation, appeared to contradict Shigella. This is not the first time that the area has been connected to terrorist cells (see East Africa Politics & Security – 18.02.15).
The rise in the use of IS rhetoric also extends to Kenya. Last month, a self-proclaimed splinter group from al-Shabaab, Jabha East Africa, announced itself. At this stage it cannot be ascertained if it is just a twitter account and a press statement, or something more potent. The amateurism of the twitter account suggests there is no link with IS per se.
The group do appear to be being taken seriously in Nairobi, where this week police made two arrests, supposedly of men involved in Jabha, who apparently had bomb making equipment. Given political tensions in Kenya, and pressure on the police for recent policing actions, it cannot be denied that the arrests might be a deliberate distraction. The police statement reads as if its audience is an international one, not domestic, referencing improvised explosive devices, Syria and Libya, and parents being unaware of their children’s radicalisation.
Both Tanzanian incidents have been connected to IS, though there was no direct reference in the Tanga video. The modest ambitions of the Tanga and Mwanza groups – a bloody attack on a mosque, a video and possibly some armed robberies in Tanga – suggest that serious links to regional, if not international groups, are weak at best. In sum, one can be sure of the continued existence of small extremist groups in Tanzania, which remain poorly resourced. Judging by events in Kenya and Tanzania, regional links remain relevant, if weak.
