Latest Articles about Africa
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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
The Islamic State’s Veteran Leader in Libya: A Postmortem Profile of Abu Nabil al-Anbari
Nathaniel Barr The Islamic State’s Syria and Iraq-based leadership has taken an active role in overseeing and supporting the group’s operations in Libya since pro-Islamic State jihadists first gained a foothold in the country in mid-2014. The Islamic State (IS) leadership has encouraged migration (hijrah)... MORE
The Ben Guerdane Attack and Tunisia’s Tackling of Terrorism
As Tunisian jihadists with Islamic State (IS) in Libya come under increasing military pressure from local and international forces, they appear to be returning home with the intention of capturing territory. That manifested itself this month in the attack on the border town of Ben... MORE
AQIM’s Resurgence: Responding to Islamic State
AQIM’s Resurgence: Responding to Islamic State Jacob Zenn and Dario Cristiani Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allied militant groups have undergone something of an operational revival since late 2015, expanding their area of operations and mounting high-profile attacks in Burkina Faso and... MORE