"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), '[Al-Shabaab] seeks to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state in the country that it hopes will ultimately expand to encompass the whole Horn of Africa. In doing so, persecution of Christians is not only a human rights issue, but also a demographic and security issue. Although Africa’s Christian population is the largest in the world, continued persecution will result in demographic shifts like those in the Middle East. A Christian-less Middle East and Africa will mean the death of indigenous, advanced, and humanitarian civilizations and their replacement with an extremely violent, hostile, and anti-humanitarian ideology.'"