
Latest Articles about Africa


Piracy on the Rise in the Gulf of Guinea as Niger Delta Militants Move Offshore
While the threat of piracy has gained international recognition off the coast of Somalia and farther out into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, pirate activities in the Gulf of Guinea have only recently caught the world’s attention. According to the UN’s International Maritime Organization... MORE

Intervening in Mali: West African Nations Plan Offensive against Islamists and Tuareg Rebels
As Tuareg rebels battle radical Islamists with heavy weapons for control of the northern Mali city of Gao, Mali and the other 15 nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are planning a military offensive designed to drive both groups out of... MORE


Purifying Islam and Combating the West: Post Mortem Analysis of the Indelible Impact of al-Qaeda’s Abu Yahya al-Libi
Abu Yahya al-Libi might not have lived long enough to become the next Osama Bin Ladin, but over al-Libi’s seven-year career with al-Qaeda he had an indelible impact. Al-Libi evolved from an ideologue to a military commander to senior leadership. It would not be a... MORE

The Ideological Inspiration for Boko Haram: A Profile of Mallam Muhammadu Marwa and His Impact on Religious Extremism in Northern Nigeria
A statement from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) issued on June 21 warned that last week’s Boko Haram attacks on Christians in Kaduna and Zaria and the subsequent reprisals against innocent Muslims represented a descent into a complete social... MORE

June 2012 Briefs
SAUDI ARABIA, U.S. AND INDIA COOPERATE TO CAPTURE MUMBAI “26/11” ATTACKER ABU JINDAL Syed Zabihuddin Ansari (a.k.a Abu Jundal) is infamous for being the “voice” that delivered orders from a control room in Pakistan by telephone to the terrorists who infiltrated Mumbai's Taj hotel on... MORE

Tripoli’s Islamist Militia Leader Turns to Politics in the New Libya
Abd al-Hakim Belhadj, the former “Amir” of the now defunct Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), announced on May 15 that he is resigning from his post as head of Tripoli’s Military Council in order to run in the June 19 election of Libya’s General National... MORE

The Life of an American in Somalia’s Jihad: An In-Depth Portrait of al-Amriki
A U.S. citizen born in 1984 in Alabama, Omar Hammami (a.k.a. Abu Mansoor al-Amriki) is a key recruiter and propaganda specialist for the al-Qaeda affiliated group, al-Shabaab, in Somalia. Al-Amriki, the son of a Syrian Muslim father and an American Southern Baptist mother, was raised... MORE