Combating a common threat

Meanwhile, relevant national and regional organizations need to strengthen their counterterrorism cooperation and take targeted measures to strengthen security in terms of border management and control; intelligence gathering, screening and sharing; solving terrorist cases collectively and improving preventive mechanisms against terrorism at both the national and regional level, so as to build a collective security network against terrorism.

In addition, the international community bears the responsibility and obligation to provide practical and effective assistance to support the counterterrorism efforts of African countries. This support should include funds and technical guidance, equipment supply and personnel training, but also, more importantly, intelligence and information sharing.

When it comes to terrorist attacks and the anti-terror campaign, no country can afford to stand idly by. The victims of the Nairobi terrorist attack were not only Kenyans, but also citizens from the US, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, China and other countries.

In China's western border area, the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism, and extremism have been evident in two violent incidents this year, which also calls for enhanced international cooperation. China's national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, adopted two pacts on anti-terrorism cooperation among the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members in June. One on the procedures for organizing joint anti-terrorism drills among the SCO members and the other on the procedures for carrying out joint anti-terrorism actions in the territory of SCO members. In July, China and Iran signed an agreement on security cooperation to strengthen their bilateral cooperation to combat terrorism and drug-related crimes. But more such collaborative efforts are needed to bring an end to the scourge of terrorism.

The attack in Nairobi has once again shown that extremist organizations know no borders, and countries must work together and strengthen their cooperation to combat terrorism. The narrow-minded concept of not sharing counterterrorism intelligence should be abandoned.

The author is a senior fellow with the Chahar Institute and a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 09/25/2013 page8)