US reaffirms vigilance against jihadist threats

… Says groups remain active globally

By Nkiruka Nnorom

The United States has said jihadist terrorist groups have remained a danger to global peace and security despite effective global campaigns and reaffirmed its resolve to sustain counter-terrorism efforts through diplomacy, financial action and military cooperation with partners.

Ambassador Gregory D. LoGerfo, Coordinator and Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State, stated this in a statement on the outcome of the ministerial on the resurgence of political terrorism convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

The ministerial, which was held last week at the State Department, had delegations from 66 countries in attendance. It focused on what officials described as a resurgent threat from far-left political terrorism, alongside continued risks posed by narco-terrorists and Islamic jihadist groups.

LoGerfo assured that Washington was currently addressing these three major terrorism threats, saying, “For all three, we need to identify terror actors and plots before they happen.”

Citing actions against Islamic jihadist groups in Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and the Middle East region, he said that the sustained action was driven by the September 11th attacks and subsequent jihadist attacks in Bali, Madrid, and London, among others.

“For the last 25 years, U.S. counterterrorism and that of our partners has meant first and foremost the fight against Islamic terrorism.

“Our sustained campaign against Islamic terrorists has been very effective through global diplomacy and cooperation, a unified attack on terrorist financial networks, and military action by the United States and our partners. But jihadist groups remain a danger, and we remain vigilant in our efforts to counter them,” LoGerfo said.

He added that at President Donald Trump’s directive, American forces had carried out strikes against jihadi adversaries, including in Syria, Somalia and Nigeria, as part of efforts to degrade ongoing threats.

Sharing the outcome of the ministerial meeting, LoGerfo said that partner countries agreed to align their own legal frameworks to ensure that the terrorist networks cannot simply relocate across borders.

Partner countries, according to him, also agreed to deepen intelligence sharing, coordinate travel restrictions, and strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure, especially transportation and energy systems.

LoGerfo shared that Secretary Rubio also announced new visa restrictions under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar members of far-left terrorist groups and their supporters from entering the United States.

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