
Latest Articles about West Africa

The Carousel of Rebellion and Reintegration: A Profile of Northern Mali’s Colonel Hassan ag Fagaga
From the moment of its independence in 1960, Mali was almost doomed to failure as a post-colonial state created from the territories of French West Africa. With its odd, bow-tie shape incorporating a larger but sparsely populated Muslim Sahel-Saharan region in the northeast and a... MORE

Briefs
Iran: Striking Back at Islamic State A coordinated attack in the Iranian capital of Tehran, supposedly by Islamic State (IS), has prompted a furious response from the Iranian government. Among other things, this attack highlighted the sectarian risks engendered by Tehran’s efforts in Syria and... MORE


Leaving Islamism Aside: The Gambia Under Adama Barrow
The inauguration of Adama Barrow as president in the Gambia in January 2017 heralded a new era for the country, ruled previously for 22 years by strongman Yahya Jammeh. Among Barrow’s first actions in office was to reverse Jammeh’s declaration that the Gambia was an... MORE


Ten Years of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb: Evolution and Prospects
In the past few months, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) hit the headlines again as it carried out a massive attack in Gao, northern Mali, killing 77 people and injuring dozens more. Al-Mourabitoun, the group of Mokhtar Belmokhtar — so far, the “most-killed” terrorist... MORE

AQIM’s Alliance in Mali: Prospects for Jihadist Preeminence in West Africa
Trends in the two main theaters of jihadist activity in West Africa have moved in al-Qaeda’s favor in recent months. In the Mali/Sahel region, the formation of a new alliance has consolidated al-Qaeda’s position as the preeminent jihadist force in the region, while in Nigeria/Lake... MORE

Briefs
Burkina Faso: Fears Grow Over Domestic Militant Threat A series of attacks in rural Burkina Faso have raised concerns over an increasingly active homegrown jihadist militant group operating in the West African country’s remote north. A fire at a primary school in Baraboule, in northern... MORE

Before Boko Haram: A Profile of al-Qaeda’s West Africa Chief Ibrahim Harun (a.k.a. Spinghul)
In March 2017, 46-year-old Ibrahim Harun, who claims to be a citizen of Niger but was born in Saudi Arabia while his parents were on the hajj, was convicted in the court of the Eastern District of New York for a conspiracy to murder American... MORE
