Next round of attacks: Somalia, Sudan, Yemen

The attacks could begin at the end of January, when the campaign in Afghanistan is forecast to end. It is believed that the British and US governments want to keep the pressure on Al-Qaeda, so as to forestall any major future terrorist attacks. Human intelligence, called “Humint”, is fundamental to the campaign being carried out worldwide by the CIA and the British Military Intelligence, department 6 (MI6), the external security force.

The Al-Itihaad group in Somalia is a prime target for attack due to the links of this organisation with Osama Bin Laden’s deputy, Muhammad Atef, who was killed in an American missile attack in Afghanistan this week.

The Sudan was Osama Bin Laden’s host country in the first half of the 1990s. Hassan Al-Turabi was his host at the time, although he is now under house arrest, but his followers are suspected of being Al-Qaeda activists. One of Osama Bin Laden’s wives is Al-Turabi’s niece.

Yemen is a home to many Afghan veterans, including Al-Qaeda activists, who have training camps in the mountains in the north of the country. Aden Islamic Army camps were identified by British fundamentalist terrorists who were arrested in Aden for their part in a terrorist campaign against tourists in 1998.

The nature of the attacks is likely to be classified as “stiletto” raids, meaning rapid deployment of strike aircraft and as a last resort, spearhead campaigns by special troops. The main base for these attacks is likely to be US aircraft carriers stationed off the Somali coast.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru