UN Ambassador Samantha Power said that recent reports of a poison gas attack in Syria are “unsubstantiated” so far. In a Pentagon briefing on April 8, General David Rodriguez, head of US Africa Command, said: “The network of Al Qaeda and its affiliates … that link Africa with North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia have taken advantage of regional instability [in Africa] to continue to expand their activities …. The expansion of the Al Qaeda [in Africa], its adherents and affiliates includes Ansar al Sharia, in both Benghazi and Derna. It also includes the … MBM-led unit in northern Mali. And then, of course, Boko Haram and Ansaru, who’s also added to the foreign terrorist organizations.”
