Although Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau publicly declared a jihad only as late as 2010, 2002 is widely recognized as the year the Nigerian jihadist group was founded. The group’s leader then was Shekau’s predecessor, the Salafist cleric Muhammed Yusuf, who himself was aligned with... MORE

A little-known five-year civil war in South Sudan has left up to 400,000 dead and millions more displaced. After the young nation gained its hard-won independence in 2011, only two years of peace followed before latent rivalries between the Dinka and the Nuer (the two... MORE

Veteran opposition politician Yasir Arman called the April 11 military coup in Sudan nothing more than “old wine in old bottles.” Arman suggested it had preserved “the political and economic structures of the old system,” the military-Islamist alliance that has ruled Sudan since an Islamist-backed... MORE

On orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, his agent Yevgeny Prigozhin—popularly known as “the cook” because of his ownership of a catering company—has inserted “political technologists” in at least 20 African countries. These Russian operatives are meant to ensure the continuation in office of Moscow’s... MORE

The meeting of 29 foreign ministers from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in Washington, DC, last week (April 3–4), marking the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Alliance, was not a joyful occasion for Russia. During the celebration, Russia was duly... MORE

Indonesia: Family Ties in Terrorism Increasingly Evident Ahead of Elections  Brian M. Perkins The threat of terrorism continues to loom large in Indonesia as the country gears up for elections on April 17. The country will not only vote for its next president, but also... MORE

Introduction On January 13, the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, made its way through southern Libya, entering Sabha and consolidating its position in the Fezzan region. As a result, Haftar also seized control of Libya’s biggest oil field, Sharara. Now controlling... MORE

Introduction While Algeria is going through a period of instability, another country in the Maghreb-Sahel region is also experiencing a power transition—Mauritania (see Hot Issue, March 16). This transitional process should, despite the risks posed by jihadist groups, be smoother than Algeria’s. On January 15, ... MORE

Al-Shabaaab, the Somalia-based terror group, has been largely portrayed as a male organization in its more-than-decade-long operational history, but it’s now emerging that women are also at the center of one of Africa’s deadliest insurgencies. The group, al-Qaeda’s terror network affiliate in East Africa, is... MORE

The northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara, has reportedly experienced more than 180 deaths and 300 kidnappings in March 2019 alone (Twitter.com/A_Salkida, March 17). Zamfara has otherwise avoided much of the militancy that has haunted northern Nigeria in the past several years. So, what explains this... MORE