UN warns of strengthening Boko Haram as Kony retreats

The United Nations is warning that as one African terrorist
organization declines, another is gaining strength.

At a briefing on central Africa the Security Council heard evidence that the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA, lead by Joseph Kony, had been severely weakened in recent months.

But the Security Council said the Nigerian group Boko Haram is spreading and rising to take the place left by the LRA.

Nick Harper reports from the UN headquarters in New York.

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For almost 30 years the Lord’s Resistance Army has terrorized central Africa. Led by Joseph Kony, the United Nations estimates the group has killed more than 100 thousand and abducted more than 66 thousand children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.
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But now the UN Security Council notes as a change. The UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Peter Wilson explains.

Peter Wilson - clip 1

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Between 2011-13 LRA killings dropped by 75%, abductions by 50%. And in the last two years nearly 200 LRA soldiers have defected or been released, reducing the LRA’s force to just 500 fighters.
But regional insecurity has hampered the hunt for Kony. Violence in South Sudan and the Central African Republic seems to have given the LRA breathing space. Here’s the Head of the UN Office in Central Africa, Abou Moussa.

Moussa - clip 1

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Indeed the worsening violence in South Sudan has meant the government there and in neighboring Uganda have withdrawn some of their troops from the special 5000-strong task force that is tracking down the LRA. But Abou Moussa said he thought the end of Kony was “coming pretty soon”. The task force believe he is sheltering in a Sudanese controlled enclave of South Sudan.
But the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Samantha Power, said governments must do more to expose him.

Samantha Power - clip 1

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Yet as the LRA weakens the Security Council spoke of a new emerging threat. Here’s Samantha Power again.

Samantha Power - clip 2

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Boko Haram’s abduction of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls has shocked the world. And now the UN is warning Boko Haram could spread, to Nigeria’s neighbors, and beyond.
There are fears Boko Haram could exploited the religious tensions stirred up the Central African Republic, searching out Muslims who have been forced out the country by the anti-balaka Christian militias.
The head of the UN’s office in Central Africa is warning of the parallels between the LRA and Boko Haram. When asked about rumors that Boko Haram is west Africa was reaching out to other terrorist groups, including Al Shabaab in east Africa, he couldn’t confirm it, but said quote ‘If we don’t act fast, that may happen’.
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