East Africa countries have been urged to forge a coordinated regional approach to close regulatory loopholes, strengthen border controls, harmonize laws and enhance intelligence-sharing mechanisms in making the region safe from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) threats.

During a Global Counter Terrorism Center (GCTC) capacity building of experts on strengthening community resilience against improvised devices through preventive, coordinated and whole of society approaches in East African that was held in Diani Kwale County, a call was made for unity.

Kenya National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) Director General Kibien Kigen said that there is a critical need for countries to work together in combating terrorisms.

“No single nation can eliminate the threats in isolation calling for a concerted effort of unity among East African nations and Africa at large,” noted Kigen.

The training was convened in response to the growing use of improvised explosives devices by terrorist’s groups across Africa posing a serious and evolving security challenge.

In 2023, four of the ten most affected countries were in West Africa with an estimated 1,600 IED incidents occurring in the region between 2010 and mid 2022.

The GCTC capacity building to security experts is aimed at creating a shared understanding among participants of the evolving IED threat, its drivers and its impact across the region.

Kigen said that fostering stronger inter and intra agency coordination and promoting regional cooperation to close loopholes and enhance collective resilience is vital.

East Africa has seen an alarming growth in both the prevalence and sophistication of IED attacks primarily driven by the operations of Al-Shabaab and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Beyond immediate casualties, IEDs exacerbate economic loss, displace populations, cripple critical infrastructure and result in environmental contamination such as rendering farmland inaccessible.

The widespread availability of chemical precursors essential to agriculture and mining, alongside everyday consumer electronics that can serve as triggers, makes regulation without disrupting legitimate commerce extremely difficult.

“Outdated and inconsistent legal frameworks, including weak penalties and lack of harmonized legislation, further create vulnerabilities that terrorists readily exploit,” said Kigen.