Latest Articles about Africa
Nigerian Militants Influencing Election Campaign
A judge in Nigeria on Tuesday rejected jailed Ijaw militant leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari's bail request, delaying a decision until June, well after the upcoming April 14 and April 21 elections. Only weeks after Asari threatened to kill Federal High Court Judge Peter Olayiwola and his... MORE
Weapons and Tactics of the Somali Insurgency
After being driven from the Somali capital of Mogadishu to the port city of Kismayo by Ethiopian troops in late December, Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed urged "Islamic Courts fighters, supporters and every true Muslim to start an insurgency against the Ethiopian troops in... MORE
Expelling the Infidel: Historical Look at Somali Resistance to Ethiopia
The U.S.-supported Ethiopian invasion of Somalia has an unsettling resemblance to the British-supported Ethiopian incursions in the early years of the 20th century. In both cases, the Western powers became involved because of perceived strategic considerations, while their proxy, Ethiopia, went to war as a... MORE
The Reconstituted Al-Qaeda Threat in the Maghreb
In the first week of January 2007, the Moroccan government announced the dismantling of an alleged 62-person terrorist cell (Gulf Times, January 5). According to statements made by the government, this cell had "ideological links with and financial and logistical support for international terrorist groups"... MORE
Islamist Infiltration of the Moroccan Armed Forces
At the end of July 2006, Moroccan authorities dismantled Ansar al-Mahdi, a previously unknown terrorist group, and made initial arrests of 44 people. The number of arrestees later grew to 56 and spanned multiple cities in northern Morocco. The group itself was unique and included... MORE
The Threat of Grassroots Jihadi Networks: A Case Study from Ceuta, Spain
On December 12, 2006, Spanish police executed a spectacular counter-terrorism operation in the neighborhood of "Príncipe Alfonso" in Ceuta (a Spanish city located in North Africa, just south of Gibraltar). Those arrested belonged to a grassroots jihadi group planning attacks on local targets in the... MORE
Somalia’s Islamist Leadership: Where Are They Now?
Bombings, shootings and mortar attacks continue in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu and the southern port city of Kismayo, as Somali Islamists engage Ethiopian occupation forces. Many Islamist leaders took refuge in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, where they were joined by Islamic Courts Union (ICU) second-in-command... MORE
Nigeria Continues to Slide Toward Instability
The ongoing unrest in Nigeria's volatile delta region is having an inflationary impact on oil prices, with no resolution to the crisis in sight. The turmoil in the delta, the center of the country's oil industry, is largely driven by poverty and corruption. This year... MORE
Ethnic Somalis Threaten to Destabilize Eastern Ethiopia
With Ethiopia sending troops across the border in Somalia to protect the Baidoa-based Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the possibility for a regional conflict looms in the future. To understand why Ethiopia is concerned with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) takeover in Somalia, it is necessary... MORE
Libyan Fighters Join the Iraqi Jihad
Despite Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddhafi's uncompromising stance toward Islamist activism, a number of Libyan volunteers have traveled from Libya to join the Iraqi jihad. From the information that is beginning to emerge about some of these militants, it would seem that they are not part... MORE