The Libyan man captured during a US raid in Tripoli pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday.

Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known as Abu Anas al-Libi was captured by American forces in Tripoli. Last week, details emerged about the US raids in Libya and Somalia. The raids targeted al-Qaeda operatives in the region.

Al Libi is accused of involvement in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Libyan government said it was not notified of the raid and called it a violation of Libyan sovereignty. According to a New York Times report, the Libyan government had given “tacit approval” to these raids but had not played an active role in the operation.

However, another US mission failed to capture a senior al-Shabaab operative, Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, alias Ikrima in Somalia. The U.S. Navy Seals had a firefight with the well-armed al-Shabaab militants in Mogadishu, the capital city. Faulty intelligence was to blame for the failure, officials said.

Al-Shabaab already controls a large portion of Somalia and the new government relies on help to keep the capital safe.

“Symbolically, the two raids have something in common. The focus of jihadi terrorism has moved from the badlands of Waziristan and Pakistan to Africa,“ said Richard Mansbach, professor of international politics. “The al-Qaeda has moved to disparate affiliates or subsidiaries in ungovernable areas. Al-Shabaab has attracted jihadis from other countries.”

Mansbach said the failing and failed states in different parts of Africa are fertile grounds for terror groups. Countries such as Mali, Chad, Niger with unstable governments are some of them.

“The US was very helpful to Libya during the revolution and the relations should not be affected by an incident, even if it is a serious one,” Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said last week during his visit to Morocco. The Libyan government is not effectively in control and militias formed during the revolution have gained a stronghold.

Mansbach also said the raids show a shift in military strategy in recent years.

“It is unimaginable the U.S. is going to get involved in another Iraq or Afghanistan in the near future. The U.S. public is not willing to have another war,” Mansbach said. 

This means there are more precision strikes with drones and surprise attacks than boots on the ground. The change is reflected in the established drone bases in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Niger, Sudan and Uganda.