Western anxiety over the spread of al-Qaeda-style Islamist militancy in the vast and inhospitable Sahara and Sahel regions of northern Africa has had unforeseen consequences for the survival of hardcore nomadic rebels operating in this eternally porous region. For ethnic-Tuareg insurgent leaders like Mali’s Ibrahim... MORE

Salafi-Jihadi activities in Mauritania have increased significantly in the last couple of years, indicating that al-Qaeda affiliated groups are becoming more effective in that country. The frequency of attacks and the nature of the tactics employed suggest that the number of Salafist militants is growing.... MORE

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is a hotbed for insurgencies of many kinds. The Niger Delta conflict garners the most attention for its frequent kidnappings and sabotaging of petroleum production facilities. Equally disconcerting and potentially more destabilizing is a little known extremist group... MORE

In the first week of March, the British and Canadian governments both added the Somali al-Shabaab group to their respective list of proscribed terror groups. [1] The decisions mean that it will now be illegal to fundraise or support al-Shabaab in both nations, while Canadian... MORE

Abdelmalek Droukdel (a.k.a. Abu Musab al-Wadoud), the current amir of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), should be considered the real power behind the shift in focus of the Algerian jihad. Droukdel was an early volunteer in the struggle launched by the Armed Islamic Group... MORE

In the first nine months of 2009, Chinese companies launched 14 projects in Ghana and topped the list of foreign firms registered in terms of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the country [1]. This trend follows in line with China’s growing footprint in the rest... MORE

Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad Achar Foudeil Taha is the chairman of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (Harakat al-Adl wa’l-Muswaa – JEM), the most powerful and determined of the many armed movements in Darfur challenging the authority of the military/Islamist regime in Khartoum. Given the effectiveness... MORE

Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad Achar Foudeil Taha is the chairman of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM – Harakat al-Adl wa’l-Muswaa), the most powerful and determined of the many-armed movements in Darfur challenging the authority of the military/Islamist regime in Khartoum. As a former Darfur... MORE

Three Spanish aid workers of the Catalan NGO Barcelona Acció Solidària, Albert Vilalta, Alicia Gámez and Roque Pascual, were kidnapped somewhere between Nouadibou and Nouakchott in Mauritania on November 29 (El Paìs, November 30, 2009). Four days earlier, a French citizen, Pierre Camatte, was kidnapped... MORE