sawa becoming an openly run terrorist camp in eritrea

Sawa Becoming an Openly Run Terrorist Camp in Eritrea

05-05-2008

Staff Writer:

Sawa, once a small military camp intended to serve high school students in Eritrea with basic army trainings is becoming an international hub for terrorists. Located in the mountainous region of northern Eritrea, it now hosts major international terror groups including ONLF, the Ogaden National Liberation Front which claimed responsibility for the killing of nine Chinese oil workers in East Africa in 2007, and Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya, a somali terrorist group believed to have links to al-Qaeda that has been behind a number of terrorist attacks in Mombasa, Nairobi and Der es Selam.

OLF, the Oromo Liberation Front is another terror group in Sawa which is well known for its attacks on civilians in Ethiopia.

U.S. government in February 2008 designated Al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization and it is now stationed in Sawa receiving military assistance from the government of Eritrea and financial support from Qatar. It is a violent and brutal extremist group with a number of individuals affiliated with al-Qaeda. Its senior leaders are believed to have been trained and fought with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Sawa with its proximity to major trade routes mainly oil from Southern Sudan to Port Sudan and the Red Sea commercial line feeding the Suez Canal is obviously a big threat to western interests in the region.