Latest Articles about Africa
Boko Haram: Two Years on Shekau and Buhari Still Face Pressure Over the Chibok Schoolgirls
The two-year anniversary of Boko Haram’s kidnapping of more than 250 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria passed on April 13, 2016. Evidently, international interest in the Chibok kidnapping has waned. Even after CNN aired footage from a video showing 15 of the schoolgirls there... MORE
Radical Change: The Impact of Islamic State on Tunisia
Since the March 2015 release of Islamic State’s (IS) “Tunis for us and not for the apostates” video, there has been a significant increase in the level of jihadist violence in Tunisia. Much of this has been driven by IS, which coordinates its grimly characteristic... MORE
BRIEFS
Nigeria: Another Small Victory Against Boko Haram According to reports this month, Nigerian troops uncovered a Boko Haram bomb-making factory near the border town of Ngala, Borno State, Nigeria. Army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usma, keen to promote the find as the latest success in Nigeria’s... MORE
Al-Qaeda Top Leader’s Younger Brother, Muhammad Rabee al-Zawahiri, Released
Muhammad Mansour Muhammed Rabee al-Zawahiri, a younger brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was released from Egyptian prison on March 17. A court had acquitted him on October 15 of charges related to forming an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called “al-Zawahiri cell” in Egypt, as well... MORE
Jahba East Africa: Islamic State Alters the Dynamic of Somalia’s Conflict
With the emergence of a group in Somaliland calling itself Jahba East Africa, it appears Islamic State (IS) is becoming an independent entity in Somalia’s insurgency. This development will likely complicate the conflict both for the African Union forces in the country and the indigenous... MORE
Libya’s Political Turmoil Allows Islamic State to Thrive
Islamic State (IS) has experienced fits and starts in its efforts to expand beyond Syria and Iraq. As IS has tried to gain a foothold in new countries, it has encountered violent opposition from both state and non-state actors. In Algeria, state security forces decapitated... MORE
Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood and the Struggle for Post-Revolutionary Libya: A Profile of Shaykh Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi
Andrew McGregor The rise to power of Mu’ammar Qaddafi (1969-2011) in Libya led to major changes in the observation of Islam in a deeply conservative Sunni Muslim North African nation. While establishing Shari’a as the basis of Libyan legislation, Qaddafi sought to disrupt the dominant... MORE
Boko Haram’s Foreign Fighters in Libya
Jacob Zenn The Libyan uprising that broke out in 2011 was followed by a civil war that has lasted five years. During this time, the Islamic State has set up three “provinces” in Libya, although al-Qaeda and other rebel groups have maintained a strong presence... MORE
Muhammad al-Madhuni: Islamic State’s Leader in Western Libya
Zainul Abid Muhammal al-Madhuni is an Islamic State commander operating from the Libyan city of Sabratah, which is presently controlled by militias. He was born in 1953 and grew up in Ain Zara, located in central Tripoli, though he holds an Iraqi passport under the... MORE