Taliban extremists in FATA have long exploited local grievances in order to sustain their activities, said a senior US official.
Sarah Sewall, US Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, argued that weak and unpopular governments also create feelings that encourage terrorism.
In her presentation on the long-term US strategy for combating terrorism at the School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, she noted that over the past 13 years violent extremist movements had diffused and proliferated, despite continued efforts to eliminate them.
“Increasingly, they have sprung from within conflicts worldwide. And they have exploited grievances and divided societies in order to further their own aims,” said Sewall.
“Weak, illegitimate, and repressive governments inadvertently created opportunities for terrorists to capitalise on popular resentment.”
She argued that in a repressive setup, extremists “make common cause” with local insurgents, the discontented and criminal networks, and operate in poorly governed territory. She acknowledged that in the last 13 years, terrorist methods and goals have diversified. They now control large territories in several regions of the world.
Sewall also gave specific examples of these dynamics: In the Pak-Afghan region, Tehreek-e-Taliban has long exploited local grievances in the tribal belt in order to sustain itself.
In East Africa, members of al Qaeda’s network blended with militants from the Council of Islamic Courts to create Al Shabaab.
In the loosely governed expanses of the Sahel, extremists associated with disenfranchised Tuareg tribes to expand its power base.
In Libya, Ansar al-Sharia exploited post-Gaddafi factional violence to cement itself in the Libyan landscape.
And the self-styled Islamic State group or Daesh, dramatically expanded its reach and power by capitalising on Sunni political disenfranchisement in Iraq.
“The rise of Daesh (IS) is on all of our minds, but it is only one manifestation of a trend that we have witnessed over the last decade,” Sewall added.
“Violent extremist groups have been expanding their control and resonance in South Asia, the Sahel, the Maghreb, Nigeria, Somalia, and in the Arabian Peninsula.”
According to the senior State Department official, the United States and its partners in the fight against violent extremism have also adapted their strategy for dealing with the extremists.
They continued to pursue military force to go after terrorist leaders plotting to attack the US or its interests and continued to refine their intelligence capabilities.
“We proved adept at taking key terrorists off of the battlefield,” said the US official while showing how the United States and its allies have adopted more comprehensive approaches towards terrorism and violent extremism, adapting to the evolving threats they faced.
She said that the US now places greater emphasis on building the capacity — including military, intelligence, and civilian — of its partners to address threats within their own borders and region.
