Militant Islamist groups in Africa continue to be highly active agents of instability across five theaters on the continent. The 22,307 fatalities linked to these groups over the past year sustain a record level of lethality observed since 2023 and represent a 60-percent increase from the 2020-2022 period.
Nearly half of the fatalities (10,685) in the past year have been in the Sahel. Somalia represents roughly a third of the continental fatalities (7,289). Along with the Lake Chad Basin, these three regions account for 99 percent of the militant Islamist-linked fatalities in Africa the past year. All five African theaters (including Mozambique and North Africa) remain highly dynamic with militant insurgents mounting offensive operations in each, especially in the Sahel and Somalia.
Read more…
Source: Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- DR Congo: Bomb injures at least 12 people near a market in Beni
January 25, 2023
A bomb exploded at a market in eastern Congo on Wednesday, injuring at least a dozen people, authorities said. An unknown person detonated a bomb inside a bag in North Kivu’s Beni town, said Tharcisse Katembo, a local official. “Damage was documented (and) at least 12 people were injured. They were injured in the lower limbs, others ...
- Somalia: Explosion, gunfire near mayor’s office in Mogadishu
January 22, 2023
A huge blast tore through buildings near the mayor’s office in central Mogadishu on Sunday, with gunfire erupting afterwards in an attack claimed by Al-Shabaab, police and witnesses told AFP. “Terrorists blasted a vehicle loaded with explosives onto a perimeter wall of the Mogadishu mall which is next to the Banadir administration headquarters,” police officer Abdullahi ...
- Kenyan security forces kill 10 suspected al-Shabab fighters
January 20, 2023
Kenyan security forces have killed 10 fighters from the Somalia-based al-Shabab group in eastern Kenya, a government official says. They also recovered rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices after fighting the group on Wednesday in the village of Galmagalla in Garissa coungeoty, Thomas Bett, deputy county commissioner of the Bura East sub-county, said on Thursday. Read more… Source: ...
- At Least 32 Peacekeeping, Associated Personnel Killed in Malicious Attacks during 2022, United Nations Staff Union President Says
January 20, 2023
At least 32 United Nations peacekeeping personnel — 28 military and four police, including one woman police officer — were killed in deliberate attacks in 2022, the United Nations Staff Union said today. For the ninth year in a row, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was the deadliest for peacekeepers with ...
- Nigeria: Double explosions rock Port Harcourt APC rally
January 20, 2023
Three persons have been reported injured, following double explosions that rocked a rally of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the Rumu-Woji Play Ground, also known as Ojukwu Field, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Publicity Secretary of the APC, Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, who shared photos of two female members affected. Read more… Source: Vanguard
- Somali, U.S. forces engage insurgents in support of the Federal Government of Somalia
January 20, 2023
At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike on Jan. 20, 2023. The strike occurred approximately 260 km northeast of Mogadishu near Galcad, Somalia where Somalia National Army forces were engaged in heavy fighting following a complex, ...
- UN peacekeeping: A team of all-female Egyptian police officers tackles the threat of IED attacks in Mali
January 17, 2023
For the first time in the history of UN peacekeeping, an all-female Egyptian team within the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is playing a crucial role in saving lives by detecting and defusing improvised explosive devices (IEDs). According to MINUSMA, the Egyptian Women’s Team for the Detection and Neutralization of Improvised Explosive ...
- Somalia: Al-Shabab launches deadly attack on military base north of Mogadishu
January 17, 2023
Al-Shabab launched a deadly attack on a Somali military base on Tuesday, just a day after the government claimed a “historic victory” over the jihadists with the capture of a strategic coastal town. The Islamists detonated a car packed with explosives outside the camp 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Mogadishu before gunmen stormed the compound, ...
- Nigeria: Military kills wanted Boko Haram commanders, 40 others
January 17, 2023
The military has reportedly killed two wanted Boko Haram Commanders, Abu Ubaida and Mallam Yusuf Abba. They were neutralised together with about 40 of their foot soldiers at an abandoned warehouse in Kurebe, a popular community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. “It was also revealed that the terrorists hibernating within the location and bikes ...
- Central African Republic: Weapons and Ammunition Management Country Insight
January 16, 2023
UNIDIR defines WAM in a comprehensive manner covering the oversight, accountability and governance of conventional arms and ammunition throughout their management cycle, including the establishment of relevant national frameworks, processes and practices for the safe and secure production and acquisition of materiel, stockpiling, transfers, end use control, tracing and disposal. This holistic approach is essential ...
- DR Congo: Bomb detonates in church in North Kivu province
January 15, 2023
In a statement sent to reporters, military spokesman Antony Mualushayi said that the “terrorist act” occurred in a pentecostal church in the town of Kasindi in North Kivu, which lies on the border with neighbouring Uganda. “The security services have already taken control of the place and the injured have been evacuated to local health facilities,” ...
- Somali Security Forces Seize Weapons, Arrest al-Shabab Suspect in Mogadishu
January 14, 2023
Authorities in Somalia say they have seized a weapons cache allegedly buried by al-Shabab militants at a house in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, during a joint operation. An official with NISA, however, told VOA on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak about the operation, that the seized content included improvised firearms, bombs, ...
- Uganda: How suspected ADF agent operated explosive making lab, assortment of weapons in Kampala
January 13, 2023
Intelligence organs have arrested a man in Salaama, a Kampala suburb suspected to be an agent of Allied Democratic Forces and at his two bedroomed house was an explosive making laboratory and an assortment of weapons. The bomb squad and counter terrorism units of the police together with their Forensic directorate on Thursday surrounded the home ...
- 14 Malian soldiers killed by explosives in multiple attacks in Mopti Region
January 12, 2023
Coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists have killed 14 Malian soldiers and wounded nearly a dozen, the army said. Multiple improvised explosive devices detonated between Dia and Diafarabe villages as well as between Koumara and Macina towns in central Mali, said Col. Souleymane Dembele, the director of public relations for the army, in a statement Wednesday. During the ...
- Kenya: Four killed in suspected IED attack in Garissa
January 11, 2023
Four people have lost their lives after suspected Al-Shabaab militants targeted a convoy of Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) engineers in Garissa. Police say the victims who were part of a team on a routine assessment of the LAPSSET road, lost their lives when the vehicle they were traveling in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device ...
- Somalia: Three Killed in Suicide Bombing in Central Somalia
January 11, 2023
A suicide bombing occurred today in the Halgan area of the Hiran region, resulting in the death and injuries of officials and citizens. Eyewitnesses told Shabelle radio by phone that a car filled with explosives went off in Halgan during the morning rush-hour, targeting senior regional officials and military officers. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility, saying it struck ...
- Cambodian Blue Hat EOD battalion return home from Mali
January 10, 2023
After 273 Cambodian Blue Hats left for Mali on January 7, 46 Cambodian Blue Hat explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) troops returned home from the African nation. The squad returned home yesterday after the successful completion of the humanitarian mission to keep the peace under the United Nations umbrella in the Republic of Mali. The receiving ceremony for ...
- Mozambique: Terrorists threaten more attacks
January 9, 2023
A video distributed by the self-styled “Islamic State” terrorist group, in which Mozambican jihadists swear loyalty to their dead leader, Abu Al-Hussein Al-Qurashi, promises further attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in the coming days. According to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique” the video lasts for two ...
- Somalia for 1st time claims Al Shabab extremists seek talks
January 7, 2023
Somalia’s government claimed on Saturday that the Al Shabab extremist group has for the first time asked to open negotiations, amid a military offensive the government has described as “total war.” There was no immediate statement by Al Shabab, an Al Qaida-affiliate that for well over a decade has carried out high-profile bombings in Somalia’s capital ...
- Nigeria: DSS arrests ISWAP commander behind Kogi bomb blast, Kuje prison attack
January 5, 2023
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) member over the blast near the Palace of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland in Okene, Kogi State. The Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack occurred on 29th December during the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to commission some projects. A statement on Wednesday by ...
- DR Congo: MONUSCO holds training for police officers in Beni on handling IEDs
January 5, 2023
The threat is real.” Police officials in Beni acknowledge that the city is still under threat from improvised explosive devices. In 2021, on the evening of the Christmas celebration, a device exploded in a pub in the city of Beni, killing six and injuring a dozen. A year later, during this festive period, MONUSCO police (UNPOL) organized ...
- Somalia: Death toll from car bomb blasts in Hiraan region rises to 35
January 4, 2023
Al-Shabaab militants detonated two car bombs killing at least 35 people and leveling several houses in central Somalia’s Hiraan region on Wednesday, a government-allied militia and a local elder said. The death toll from a twin car bomb attack in central Somalia’s Hiraan region has risen to 35, up from an earlier toll of at least ...