Latest Articles about Africa
Will the Return of Ethiopia’s Military to Somalia Destroy al-Shabaab or Revive It?
Just 40 days after Kenya’s military intervention against the militant al-Shabaab group began in Somalia there are indications that the Kenyan effort may become part of a joint operation with African Union and Ethiopian military forces to eradicate terrorist elements in the Horn of Africa.... MORE
Rebellion Without Reason: The Strange Survival of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army
After decades of carrying out unspeakable atrocities and thousands of kidnappings in Central Africa, the elusive commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, appears to have narrowly escaped capture by the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) twice in recent weeks. The UPDF emerged... MORE
A Profile of Shaykh Abdulcaadir Mumin: Al-Shabaab’s Leading Theological Guide
The appearance of Shaykh Abdulcaadir Mumin, alongside al-Shabaab’s senior leadership, in May 2011 at the group’s official press conference acknowledging Osama bin Laden’s death was something of a coming out for Mumin. Largely unknown outside the Somali-speaking community, he has until now lurked in the... MORE
November 2011 BRIEFS
TOP INDIAN MAOIST LEADER ELIMINATED IN WEST BENGAL Mallojula Koteshwar Rao (a.k.a. Kishenji), the military commander of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) (see Militant Leadership Monitor, April 2010), was killed November 24th in a shootout with the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in... MORE
Khartoum Besieged? : Sudan’s Rebel Movements Unite against the Center
Sudan’s military offensive against rebels in its southern Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan provinces has begun to spill over the new border with South Sudan with potentially devastating results for the region. As Khartoum descends into a severe financial crisis caused, in part, by the... MORE
BRIEFS
ISRAEL TO ASSIST KENYA IN BATTLE AGAINST AL-SHABAAB Kenyan reports say Israeli personnel will help secure potential targets in Kenya from terrorist attacks. The Israeli security experts are expected to start work in the next few weeks. According to Israeli ambassador Gil Haskel: “Israel is... MORE
Al-Qaeda and Algiers Struggle to Cope with the Implications of the Arab Spring
Al-Qaeda’s media arm released a video from Dr. Ayman al-Zawhiri in October that focused mainly on American “defeats,” but also offered the al-Qaeda leader’s views on Algeria. Al-Zawahiri called upon the people of Algeria to rise up against their government, which he claimed was guilty,... MORE
BRIEFS
KENYA’S NAVY JOINS COUNTERTERRORIST OPERATIONS OFF SOMALIA Kenya’s navy has joined the Kenyan military offensive in Somalia with operations designed to end al-Shabaab or third-party resupply or arms, fuel and other material to al-Shabaab-held territories in southern Somalia, secure Kenyan waters from terrorist infiltrators and... MORE
BRIEFS
AL-SHABAAB COUNTEROFFENSIVE IN MOGADISHU THREATENS AFRICAN UNION’S MILITARY GAINS The cautious consolidation of its control over Mogadishu by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) encountered a pair of serious setbacks in late October as al-Shabaab Islamists ambushed a Burundian patrol on October 20 and... MORE
For Profit Jihad: An In-Depth Profile of AQIM’s Abou Zeid
One of the key figures in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaeda’s North African franchise, is Abou Zeid. Though there is no agreement on his precise given name, it has recently emerged that his real name is likely Mohadem Ghadir, which surfaced among certain... MORE