Latest Articles about Africa
Nigeria and the Threat of al-Qaeda Terrorism
Not long ago, Mike Mbama Okiro, Nigeria’s inspector general of police, raised an alarm over threats by al-Qaeda to launch an attack using time-bombs on Nigerian soil. Okiro’s warning generated much attention in local and international media. Islamic groups in Nigeria, including the Supreme Council... MORE
Darfur’s JEM Rebels Bring the War to Khartoum
Last weekend’s daring raid on greater Khartoum by Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has shaken the regime and effectively disrupted the already morbid peace process in West Sudan. Though often referred to as a Darfur rebel group, JEM in fact has a national... MORE
Al-Qaeda Operations in Kabylie Mountains Alienating Algeria’s Berbers
An estimated 30 individuals, presumed to be members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), raided a bar near the city of Tizi Ouzou in the mountainous Kabylie region of Algeria on April 6 (Liberté, April 9). The men reportedly robbed the bar’s owner and... MORE
Leadership Bloodbath Marks Failure of Uganda’s LRA to Sign Peace Treaty
For two decades Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has plunged northern Uganda into a nightmare of atrocities, sadistic mutilations, child-kidnappings and sexual slavery, all in the name of establishing a Ugandan government based on the Bible and the Ten Commandments. After years of fighting... MORE
Oil Industry at the Heart of the Zaghawa Power Struggle in Chad
It was only a few years ago when the African nation of Chad was being promoted as a groundbreaking example of a new model of transparent oil revenue distribution that would relieve poverty and initiate development. Tribalism and kleptocratic rule would no longer be part... MORE
Morocco Charges Cooperation Between Terrorists and Organized Crime
Moroccan intelligence is claiming its greatest success against terrorism since the 2003 suicide attacks in Casablanca that killed 45 people. Two weeks ago, the government announced the arrest of 35 alleged members of a cell led by Abdelkader Belliraj, who holds both Belgian and Moroccan... MORE
The Ideological Struggle Over al-Qaeda’s Suicide Tactics in Algeria
On January 29, a lorry laden with 1,400 lbs of explosives and driven by a member of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was detonated in the town of Thenia, east of Algiers, killing four and wounding an additional 23 people. The target of the... MORE
Yemen’s Role in al-Qaeda’s Strategy
Osama bin Laden has always had a very soft spot in his heart for Yemen, saying that it is “one of the best Arab and Muslim countries in terms of its adherence to tradition and the faith … [its] topography is mountainous, and its people... MORE
Oil and Jihad in Central Africa: The Rise and Fall of Uganda’s ADF
In the midst of all the horrors generated in Central Africa by the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the collapse of Zaire in 1997, a little known group of Islamist radicals has done its own part to contribute to the suffering. Based since 1996 in... MORE
Morocco’s Resistance to Regional Jihad
As 2007 draws to a close, the one year anniversary nears of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat’s (GSPC) official rebranding of itself as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) following its merger with Osama bin Laden’s group. With the change in name came... MORE