LONDON: North Africa could emerge as a new "theatre of jihad" with the handful of remaining top al-Qaida leaders shifting base from Pakistan and Afghanistan to countries like Libya, top British officials have warned."At least two relatively senior al-Qaida figures have already made their way to Libya , with others intercepted en route, raising fears that north Africa could become a new 'theatre of jihad' in coming months," The Guardian quoted officials as saying. "A group of very experienced figures from north Africa left camps in Afghanistan's (north-eastern ) Kunar province where they have been based for several years and travelled back across the Middle East," one source said. "Some got stopped but a few got through."
The move to shift the base to Africa came after killing of senior al-Qaida members in an intense campaign of air strikes involving missiles launched from unmanned drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan , an official said.
After Osama's killing in May in Pakistan's Abbottabad , many other high ranking leaders of the group have also been killed. The paper said that British officials believe that a "last push" in 2012 is likely to definitively destroy Qaida's remaining "handful of the key players" . "It is unclear whether the moves from west Asia to north Africa are prompted by a desire for greater security ... or part of a strategic attempt to exploit aftermath of the Arab spring," the paper said.
The move to shift the base to Africa came after killing of senior al-Qaida members in an intense campaign of air strikes involving missiles launched from unmanned drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan , an official said.
After Osama's killing in May in Pakistan's Abbottabad , many other high ranking leaders of the group have also been killed. The paper said that British officials believe that a "last push" in 2012 is likely to definitively destroy Qaida's remaining "handful of the key players" . "It is unclear whether the moves from west Asia to north Africa are prompted by a desire for greater security ... or part of a strategic attempt to exploit aftermath of the Arab spring," the paper said.