Somalia. In 2014, terrorists continued to use safe havens in Somalia to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, and operate due to inadequate security, justice, and governance capacity at all levels. African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) operations in southern Somalia forced al-Shabaab operatives and fighters to flee former strongholds in the port city of Barawe, Buulo Mareer, and other towns in Lower Shabelle, often in advance of troop movements into these areas. These territorial losses limited al-Shabaab's ability to raise funds from the illicit charcoal trade based out of the port cities in Lower Shabelle. Still, many sections of Somalia's interior, particularly in rural areas of Middle and Lower Juba, Gedo, Bay, and Bakol regions, have remained safe havens for fleeing al-Shabaab fighters since 2012. These hard-to-reach areas provided the group both relative freedom of movement and concealment from AMISOM forces stretched thin by territorial gains. Permissive environments in southern Somalia, many devoid of adequate and consistent security, governance, and services, allowed al-Shabaab the time and space to regroup and launch attacks against harder targets and government facilities in Mogadishu and softer targets across the border in Kenya.

In northern Somalia, Puntland Security Forces continued to conduct raids against al-Shabaab camps in the Buraha Cal Madow Mountains to force the group out of longstanding strongholds near Galgala. These remote areas in Puntland offered al-Shabaab access to undeveloped ports located along miles of unguarded coastline abutting the Gulf of Aden, which is still frequently used by terrorists and smugglers to move weapons, materiel, and fighters back and forth from the Arabian Peninsula. Porous borders and ungoverned spaces remained a significant challenge for the Federal Government of Somalia and AMISOM, although both remained committed to countering terrorism in collaboration with international partners, including the United States. These efforts placed al-Shabaab in a significantly weaker financial and operational position as 2014 came to an end. Still, al-Shabaab continued to raise funds in areas still within its control by extorting local populations and raiding livestock and other livelihood commodities.

According to independent sources and NGOs engaged in demining activities on the ground, there was little cause for concern for the presence of WMD in Somalia.

The Trans Sahara: The terrorist safe haven in northern Mali has been reduced, and terrorists no longer control population centers in northern Mali, as they did in 2012. Ongoing peacekeeping operations, continued peace talks with rebel factions, and, active French and African partner counterterrorism operations have contained, degraded, disrupted, and marginalized the ability of violent extremist remnants still located there, although violent extremists, including al-Murabitoun and AQIM, continued to conduct attacks. The majority of violent extremist groups have retreated into remote areas of northern Mali or southwest Libya. Asymmetric attacks by remnant violent extremist groups are expected to take a toll on peacekeeping forces for the foreseeable future.

Mali. Ungoverned, under-governed, and ill-governed areas of northern Mali remain. The Malian government's knowledge of violent extremist activities, particularly in the north, is limited and hampered by the lack of physical control of these areas, resources, and intelligence capabilities. The Malian military in conjunction with the French and UN forces are working to eliminate violent extremist remnants in Mali. The government has also reestablished its political presence in the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, with some local government officials returning to their posts in 2014.

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