In Boko Haram leader Abu Shekau’s first public statement in June 2010, he surprised Nigerian government officials when he addressed the message to the “Leaders of al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups in Algeria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen” (Agence-France Presse, July 14, 2010). At that time,... MORE

Operation Serval, the French-led military intervention in Northern Mali brought major changes to the strategic landscape and geopolitical trends in the region, curbing, or at least slowing, the increasing presence and local control that jihadist groups have pursued in the region since 2003. The intervention... MORE

When a pair of suicide bombings occurred almost simultaneously at important economic and military targets in Niger last week, it raised the specter of broadening Salafi-Jihadist activities paralyzing the political and economic development of a vast stretch of north and west Africa. Niger, possibly the... MORE

Summary Libya’s quasi-parliament recently approved a political isolation law prohibiting a range of Qaddafi-era officials from political office or taking government jobs. The law was passed over the objections of the government and after revolutionary militias blockaded key ministries, refusing to leave until the measure... MORE

Nigeria has experienced years of sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims and endured massacres and bombings by religiously-inspired groups like Boko Haram. Now, however, with the slaughter of as many as 90 members of Nigeria’s security forces, practitioners of one of Nigeria’s many forms of... MORE

Two years ago, Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST) established itself as the premiere Salafi-Jihadi organization operating in the post-revolution environment. AST has become a key player not necessarily because of its size, but because of the anxiety it gives to many who worry about their... MORE

As oil theft in southern Nigeria’s Niger Delta region reaches up to an unprecedented 250,000 barrels per day, there are signs that al-Haji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the man who helped found the militant movements of the Delta and perfected the practice of “bunkering” (as tapping the... MORE

Isa Abd al-Majid Mansur is the leader of the southern Libyan ethnic political and militant movement the Tubu Front for the Salvation of Libya (TFSL). He is in his early-40s and is a native of the Libyan oasis town of Kufra in the southeastern Cyrenaica... MORE

The Department of State designated Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al-Khazmari al-Zahrani (a.k.a. Abu Maryam al-Azdi) a “global terrorist” on January 24, describing him as a senior member of al-Qaeda. Al-Zahrani has been on a list of extremists wanted for extradition by the Saudi Interior Ministry since... MORE

Jemal Oukacha (a.k.a. “Yahya Abu al-Hammam”) is a new commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). As the “Emir of the Sahara,” Oukacha has control over a brigade of AQIM fighters responsible for an area stretching from the Azawad region of northern Mali to... MORE