Egypt: Portions of Egypt's Sinai region were a safe haven for terrorist organizations in 2014. The Egyptian government continued its extensive security campaign focused on the North Sinai region, which was launched in September 2013 with the aim of eliminating terrorists and securing the region. The North Sinai remained closed off to tourists, most journalists, and NGO workers, which limited independent means of verifying government-published information on the success of the military's operations. In addition to reports in Egyptian press outlets, the Army spokesperson regularly published statements summarizing recent military operations and their results, including the number of terrorists killed, injured, or arrested, as well as the number of terrorist hideouts destroyed. In 2014, more than 500 militants were reportedly killed and at least 2,000 terrorist hideouts, shanties, and houses were destroyed, according to the Army spokesperson and Egyptian media reports. In addition, the military frequently seizes caches of weapons, explosives, drugs, and vehicles, and destroys tunnel openings along the border with Gaza.

Beginning in late October after coordinated attacks near El Arish that killed 30 Egyptian soldiers, the military evacuated more than 2,000 families living along the border with Gaza to create an up-to-five kilometer-wide buffer zone. The Egyptian military suspected that the attackers arrived in Egypt from Gaza via smuggling tunnels.

Through its Export Control and Related Border Security Program, the United States is working with the Government of Egypt to enhance Egypt's border security capabilities through the provision of land and maritime border enforcement and targeting and risk management training for Egyptian Customs, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. In addition, since 2009, the State Department's Nonproliferation & Disarmament Fund has assisted Egypt with the provision of backscatter x-ray portal monitors, with the capability to inspect vehicular and truck traffic at fixed transportation checkpoints for WMD-related materials, conventional weapons, and other illicit items.

Iraq. By late 2013 and early 2014, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had a major presence in parts of majority Sunni Iraq, including Fallujah and Ramadi. In the summer of 2014, ISIL carried out a large-scale offensive in Iraq that included seizing the major city of Mosul and pushing south to threaten Baghdad. ISIL was able to support this offensive from its safe haven inside Syria, moving heavy equipment, arms, resources, and personnel across the Iraq/Syria border. On August 8, U.S. airstrikes against ISIL targets began in response to the group's advance towards Erbil. In mid-September, the United States took the lead in forming an international Coalition to degrade and defeat ISIL, uniting over 60 countries in the effort. Coalition airstrikes stopped ISIL's advance by late 2014 and supported Iraqi and Kurdish clearing operations in an effort to retake territory.

Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), in parallel with Iran-backed Shia militia groups, conducted air and ground operations to root out ISIL, but faced well-trained and heavily equipped ISIL fighters. The ISF continued to clash with ISIL by the end of 2014, but had not yet retaken Mosul and Anbar province. Along with Coalition partners, the United States is preparing to stand up multiple training sites across Iraq to focus on improving ISF capabilities in command and control, intelligence, logistics, fire support, and other combat-enabling roles.

Due to security conditions in Iraq, the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program has had difficulty implementing outreach activities. EXBS priorities are to continue working with the Government of Iraq to develop and implement regulations and procedures related to The Act of the Iraqi National Monitoring Authority on WMD Non-Proliferation No. 48 of 2012 (INMA Act), including for licensing and compliance, to adopt and implement a control list, and to enhance Iraq's border security capabilities related to the inspection and detection of WMD-related goods and technologies.

The United States and Iraq strengthened their bilateral partnership to prevent nuclear terrorism in September 2014 by concluding the "Joint Action Plan between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the United States of America on Combating Nuclear and Radioactive Materials Smuggling." The agreement expresses the intention of the two governments to work together to enhance Iraq's capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear smuggling incidents, and ultimately to prevent terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear and radiological materials.

Stakeholders across the Government of Iraq – including INMA staff, the Ministry of Interior Civil Defense, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Resources – participated in various border and WMD-related security trainings, workshops, working groups, and discussions.

Lebanon: The Lebanese government does not control all regions in the country or its borders with Syria and Israel. Hizballah controlled access to parts of the country, limiting access by Lebanon's security services, which allowed it to conduct security operations with relative impunity. The Government of Lebanon took no action in 2014 to disarm Hizballah, to eliminate its safe havens in Lebanese territory, or to prevent the flow of Hizballah members to Syria and Iraq. Ungoverned areas along the Lebanese-Syrian border and in Tripoli and Akkar also have served as safe havens for al-Nusrah Front, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and other Sunni extremist groups in 2014. Many of these violent extremist groups operate in mountainous, mostly uninhabited zones where the government has limited reach. However, the government has the political will to eradicate these safe havens and has launched a sustained security campaign to rid Lebanon of these violent extremist groups. Palestinian refugee camps were also used as safe havens by Palestinian and other armed groups to house weapons and shelter wanted criminals.

The United States works closely with the Lebanese Air Force (LAF) and Internal Security Forces to combat terrorist threats along the Syrian border by providing military equipment, weaponry, and training. Lebanon is not a source country for WMD components. Lebanon's proliferation risk derives from its status as both a transit and transshipment hub as well as a recipient state for arms and military equipment. With a porous and largely un-demarcated border with Syria to the north and east, Hizballah control in sizable portions of Lebanese territory, and the ongoing smuggling of weapons to extremist militias operating in Lebanon, the current conflict in Syria has only heightened concerns for the potential flow of dual-use items and munitions to militant groups in the region. The LAF Engineer Regiment partners with U.S. government to detect and prevent proliferation of and trafficking in WMD along the Syrian border. Hizballah's continued ability to receive sophisticated munitions via Iran and Syria requires aggressive regular monitoring of this issue. The Export Control and Related Border Security program (EXBS) has conducted various enforcement training and procured basic inspection/detection equipment for Lebanese officials, and will continue to work with Lebanon to strengthen border security and interdict illicit trafficking of items of proliferation concern.

Libya: Libya's porous borders, fragmented security forces, and vast ungoverned territory have made it a permissive environment for terrorist groups such as Ansar al-Shari'a Benghazi, Ansar al-Shari'a Darnah, al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Murabitoun, and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The outbreak of widespread violence in July and subsequent collapse of central government authority created further opportunities for violent extremist groups to exploit Libya's territory to plan, finance, and stage operations. In October, Darnah-based violent extremist groups pledged allegiance to ISIL. Terrorist training camps and facilitation networks exist throughout Libya; local tribes and minority groups frequently serve as facilitators, although this appears largely due to economic rather than ideological motivations. Libya serves as a major source and transit country for foreign fighters en route to Syria and Iraq. There are indications that foreign fighters are beginning to return to Libya or choosing to stay in Libya to fight there, increasing concerns that Libya has become a battlefield for extremist groups such as ISIL.

In 2013, the United States signed an agreement with the Libyan government to cooperate on destroying Libya's stockpile of legacy chemical weapons in accordance with its obligations as an Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) member state. Libya successfully completed operations for the disposal of its remaining mustard gas filled in artillery projectile and aerial bombs in January 2014. Libya also previously completed the disposal of its remaining bulk mustard in 2013. In addition, Libya retains a stockpile of natural uranium ore concentrate (yellowcake), stored in a former military facility near Sebha in Libya's south. This material represents a limited risk of trafficking and proliferation due to the bulk and weight of the storage containers, and the need for extensive additional processing before the material would be suitable for weapons purposes.

Yemen. In 2014, the Yemeni government pursued two military offensives aimed at eradicating al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) safe havens in southern and eastern Yemen, but Houthi expansion limited the government's ability to conduct counterterrorism operations in late 2014. In April/May, the Yemeni military, in conjunction with local Popular Committees, launched an offensive against AQAP strongholds in the al-Mahfid region of the southern governorates of Shabwah and Abyan. This offensive was generally successful, pushing AQAP forces to withdraw to the remote and ill-governed Hadramawt region. A second offensive focusing on Hadramawt was planned for July/August, but this effort was significantly hindered by the Houthi incursion into the capital, which monopolized government focus. Local troops and Popular Committees led a series of operations against AQAP in the Hadramawt, but with little contribution or coordination by the central government in Sana'a. Success was more limited than the al-Mahfid offensive due to the lack of involvement from the central government, which was consumed by the growing Houthi challenge, and the logistical difficulties inherent in sustaining operations in the remote eastern governorate. AQAP was extremely active in its efforts to counter the operations that took place, particularly in al-Qatn and Sayun in the Wadi Hadramawt valley. This is a shift from AQAP's historical activities in Hadramawt, which previously focused on the more populated coastal area. Houthi expansion into Sana'a diverted the government's attention and security resources in late 2014, stalling most counterterrorism efforts.

While the 2014 offensives temporarily pushed AQAP from some of its safe havens, the group maintained strongholds and freedom in movement in key ungoverned areas of southern and eastern Yemen and continued to exert influence even in the regions it no longer fully controlled. AQAP used the political instability and growing sectarian violence of 2014 to its benefit.

Yemen's political instability continued to hinder efforts to enact or enforce strategic trade controls, leaving the country vulnerable as a transit point for WMD-related materials.

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