Latest Articles about Africa
Brief: Without French Presence in the Sahel, the Window for Negotiation Closes
On March 20, al-Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate, Group for Supporters of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) released two hostages, Olivier Dubois and Jeffery Woodke (from France and the US, respectively). The former was a journalist abducted in northern Mali in 2021 and the latter was an aid... MORE
Bilal al-Sudani’s Death Weakens Islamic State Influence in Somalia
On January 26, a US Special Forces operation in the mountainous region of Puntland, Somalia eliminated Bilal al-Sudani, who was a militant trainer and financial and logistical strategist within Islamic State in Somalia (ISS). Al-Sudani, who was also known as Suhayl Salim Abd el-Rehman, died... MORE
Central African Republic Mine Attack: Can China Protect its Overseas Nationals?
On March 19, gunmen stormed a gold mine near Bambari, in the heart of the Central African Republic (CAR), killing nine Chinese workers. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) Embassy in the CAR issued successive warnings for Chinese nationals to evacuate all areas outside of... MORE
Wagner in Serbia: A Fire Bell in the Night
One Russian mercenary paramilitary force, the Wagner private military company (PMC), has long earned itself the grisly reputation as a vicious, brutal predatory armed force. It carries out operations in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Mali, Sudan, Mozambique and the Central African Republic, among others. Recently, Russian... MORE
Brief: ISWAP Condemns Nigerian Elections Before Tinubu’s Disputed Victory
The current Nigerian vice-president, Bola Tinubu, was declared the victor in the February 25 presidential elections by the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1 (punchng.com, March 1). Only four days before the election, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) released a... MORE
Brief: South African Military Counters IS at Home and in Mozambique With One Hand And Reaches out to Russia With the Other
In December, South African special forces arrested Abdella Hussein Abadiga at a shopping center north of Johannesburg. Although South Africa has not yet confirmed this arrest, a still image of Abadiga at the mall has been released publicly. This indicated that he was indeed being... MORE
Mass Civilian Defense Force Recruitment Raises Jihadist Threat to Civilians in Burkina Faso
In October 2022, the ruling junta of Burkina Faso began a campaign to recruit 50,000 civilians to join its volunteer defense force, known as the Volontaires pour la Défense de la Patrie (VDP) (Jeune Afrique, November 1, 2022). The junta claimed that it needs these... MORE
The Global Security Initiative: China Outlines a New Security Architecture
On February 20, Xinhua released a statement on “U.S. Hegemony and its Perils,” which claims to expose “U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields” and bring “international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace... MORE
The Lasting Impact of Kenyan al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Zubayr al-Muhaajir
Zubayr al-Muhaajir is a Kenyan militant leader within the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, al-Shabaab. On January 22, he coordinated and executed an attack along a street which housed the mayor’s office in Mogadishu. Al-Muhaajir died alongside five other attackers when a Somali elite... MORE
The ‘Privatization of Force’ Presses on in Russia (Part Two)
*Read Part One. A February 7 press release from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR) revealed that one of Russia`s largest energy companies, Gazprom Neft, is now considering the creation of its own private military company (PMC)... MORE