US names Boko Haram as 'terror organisation'

The US State Department has designated
Nigeria's Boko Haram and a splinter group
named Ansaru as "foreign terrorist
organisations".
The US on Wednesday said Boko Haram
had links to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM) and was responsible for
"thousands of deaths in northeast and
central Nigeria over the last several years,
including targeted killings of civilians".
It added that Ansaru had earlier in 2013
kidnapped and executed seven
international construction workers.
"These designations are an important and
appropriate step, but only one tool in
what must be a comprehensive approach
by the Nigerian government to counter
these groups through a combination of
law enforcement, political, and
development efforts," the statement said.
Boko Haram, which translates as "Western
education is sinful", stepped up its attacks
against civilians and government
installations this year, prompting the
government to declare a state of
emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe
and Adamawa last May.
The group has since 2009 been fighting to
create an Islamic state in the country's
mainly Muslim north.
The statement urged Nigeria to continue
protecting civilians and to ensure human
rights are respected, an apparent
reference to accusations by rights groups
that government efforts to rein in the
group have led to violations of human
rights.
Deadly attacks
Among its most lethal attacks, Boko
Haram carried out indiscriminate attacks
in Nigeria’s Benisheikh in September
2013, killing more than 160 innocent
civilians, including women and children,
the State Department said.
Boko Haram has also conducted attacks
against international targets, the
department said, including a suicide
bombing that killed 21 people at the UN
building in Abuja on August 26, 2011.
Many of those who died were aid workers
supporting development projects across
Nigeria, the statement added.
It said Ansaru's attacks had focused on
Nigerian military and Western targets,
citing the November 2012 raid on a police
station in Abuja that killed Nigerian police
officers and freed detained "terrorists"
from prison.
Citing Congressional sources, the Reuters
news agency said Wednesday’s move was
significant as it directs US law
enforcement and regulatory agencies to
block business and financial transactions
with Boko Haram.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee,
which a source said has been notified of
the decision, has scheduled a hearing on
the group for Wednesday, Reuters
reported.
"The likelihood of more hearings on this
issue may have been a final straw in
encouraging the State Department to
acknowledge something which has been
apparent for some time - the growing
relationship between Boko Haram and al-
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," said
Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania
Republican who convened his own hearing
on the issue.