Ashraf al-Mayar is one of the most prominent militia field commanders fighting on the side of General Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan conflict. Mayar, a Salafist from eastern Libya, was a member of the 17 February Brigade, which was a coalition of militias that coexisted... MORE

The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, held in Sochi on October 23–24, was presented as an event of great geopolitical and geo-economic importance (see EDM, October 28), explicitly showcasing the competitive advantages Moscow is purportedly ready to employ in its struggle for influence on the... MORE

The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, held on October 23–24, in the Russian resort city of Sochi, displayed Moscow’s renewed ambition to play a significant role in Africa (TASS, October 20; The Africa Report, August 19). Increasingly, the Kremlin perceives the African continent as a... MORE

Executive Summary Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s long-game strategy has created international networks with the ultimate intention of creating a united Islamic Emirate to take the place of the lost Ottoman Caliphate, across a continuous band from Turkistan to the Atlantic coast. [1] Bruce Hoffman brought... MORE

Al-Qaeda Likely to Exploit Baghdadi’s Death Brian M. Perkins The death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is being hailed as a victory by al-Qaeda, which stands to benefit significantly from his death. While Baghdadi’s death is unlikely to see the collapse of... MORE

The latent threat Islamic State (IS) poses to Morocco was again highlighted by recent large-scale counter-terror operations in Morocco. The country’s internal security forces, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (Bureau Central d'Investigations Judiciaires—BCIJ), dismantled suspected IS cells on October 25 in Casablanca, Ouezzane, and Chefchaouen.... MORE

Last January, Rosbalt commentator Aleksandr Zhelenin suggested it was a mistake to try to find some “grand political design” in Russia’s deepening involvement in Africa. The explanation for what has been occurring, he said, is “both simpler and more disturbing”: it is a reflection of... MORE

Russia’s so-far ambiguous approach to Libya’s internal conflict, one of reassuring both sides of its continued support, has begun to shift with the deployment of Russian mercenaries backing “Field Marshal” Khalifa Haftar on the front lines of the battle for Tripoli. Despite Moscow’s search for... MORE

Eight months after the start of the anti-government protests in Algeria, the popular movement known as Hirak (the movement) is seeking to step up its actions. The standoff between Hirak and the regime is reaching an unprecedented climax. After Army Chief-of-Staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah... MORE

On July 11, 2019, Islamic State’s (IS) weekly publication al-Naba released a tribute to a “martyred” Sudanese fighter who had initially fought for IS’s West Africa wilaya (province) (ISWAP) and eventually was killed while fighting in Libya under the banner of the local wilaya there.... MORE