Counterterrorism

American forces in Africa are likely drafting target lists for possible strikes against al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups tied to Sunday's deadly attack in Nairobi, a former U.S. general said Sunday.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday said it has opened an investigation into Friday’s killing of seven squatters in an uncompleted building behind legislators’ quarters in Apo, Abuja.

Al-Shabaab, or "The Youth," is an al-Qaeda-linked militant group and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization fighting for the creation of a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia. The group, also known as Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, and its Islamist affiliates once held sway over Mogadishu and major portions of the Somali countryside, but a sustained African Union military campaign in recent years has forced the group's retreat from most major towns, including its former stronghold in the southern port of city of Kismayo. In mid-2013, many experts believe al-Shabaab, facing both internal and external pressures, is greatly weakened. Still, others warn the group remains a threat in a politically volatile, war-torn state--a claim supported by a deadly terrorist attack on a Mogadishu UN office in June.

The group allegedly planned to stage attacks to disrupt a presidential election scheduled for November 6.