The need for the US African Command (AFRICOM), which became fully operational Wednesday, was vividly illustrated during recent interviews with military Special Forces counterterror (CT) officials attached to AFRICOM’s Stuttgart, Germany headquarters.

The Command’s counterterrorists talked to HSToday.us’s Online Editor, Anthony Kimery, while he was in Switzerland last week meeting with officials of companies pioneering micro-technologies that have applicability to homeland security and defense, such as WMD sensors, counterfeit prevention, etc. The meetings were sponsored by Location Switzerland.

The CT officials told HSToday.us that Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-influenced Muslim jihadists in Africa are becoming an increasingly serious terrorist threat that has forced much greater attention to be focused on the region.

“There are some very serious bad guys and bad players there,” one of the officials candidly said. ....