U.S. eyes anti-piracy effort along Africa's west coast

WASHINGTON -- The United States and some allies are considering plans to increase anti-piracy operations along Africa's west coast, spurred on by concerns that money from the attacks is funding a Nigerian-based insurgent group linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has escalated over the past year, and senior U.S. defense and counter-piracy officials say allied leaders are weighing whether beefed-up enforcement that worked against pirates off Somalia might also be needed in the sea off Nigeria.

There has been growing coordination between Nigeria-based Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which was linked to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. -- AP