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 imposes curfew in Beni after weekend bombings
June 28, 2021
People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s city of Beni have woken up to a curfew on Monday after three bombs rocked the east of the country, with authorities warning they had reports more attacks were being planned. On Sunday morning, a makeshift bomb went off in a Catholic church in the city, injuring two ...
- NATO strengthens its partnership with Mauritania
June 25, 2021
NATO and Mauritania are further developing their long-standing partnership, by widening the scope of their political dialogue and practical cooperation. NATO civil and military officials have just completed a trip to Mauritania, where they discussed opportunities for potential additional advice, training and capacity building activities in support to Mauritanian national defence and security structures and ...
- Southern African bloc to send troops to insurgency-hit Mozambique
June 24, 2021
Southern African countries agreed to deploy forces to help quell a jihadist insurgency, as military and security sources said late Wednesday there had been fresh clashes with Islamist militants in northern Mozambique. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) approved the deployment of the “SADC Standby Force in support of Mozambique to combat… terrorism and acts of ...
- UN opens office for counter-terrorism and training in Africa
June 24, 2021
Morocco and the United Nations on Thursday inaugurated a U.N. office for counter-terrorism and training in Africa, that’s seeing increasing extremist violence. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita warned of terrorist threats sweeping across parts of the continent. “(Africa) is not only the new ground of returning foreign terrorist fighters, but it has also become a homeland for ...
- AMISOM trains Jubaland Police to counter violent extremism
June 24, 2021
The Police component of the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, has concluded training for Jubaland State Police personnel on prevention and countering violent extremism and radicalization. Fifty police officers drawn from various police stations across Jubaland attended the one-day training that also aimed to enable them to identify and combat extremism, especially ahead of the ...
- Two Burkina Faso soldiers killed in IED blast
June 23, 2021
Two Burkina Faso soldiers have been killed died while looking for four policemen missing after a deadly jihadist ambush, the government said Wednesday. “After the death of 11 policemen” on Monday in the Centre-Nord region, the two soldiers had died when “they hit an improvised explosive device”, government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura said after a cabinet meeting ...
- Residents Asked To Cooperate In Fighting Al-Shabaab In Mandera
June 18, 2021
Residents of Takaba in Mandera West Sub County have been urged to confidentially share information on suspected members of the Al-Shabaab terror group with security agencies. Speaking at a public forum in the area, North Eastern Regional Commissioner Nicodemus Ndalana appealed to parents to keep in touch and know the whereabouts of their children whom he said ...
- Cameroon Deploys Troops to Fight Separatists
June 17, 2021
Cameroon this week deployed an additional 300 troops to Bui, a northwestern administrative unit that the military says has become a stronghold for separatists. The troops are conducting house-to-house searches for weapons and destroying improvised explosive devices and rebel camps. But Civilians accuse both sides of abuses and rights violations. Cameroon’s military says Bui, an administrative ...
- Nigeria: Boko Haram finally confirms Shekau’s death, urges loyalty
June 17, 2021
Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist group has confirmed the death of its chief Abubakar Shekau, who sources say died during infighting with a rival Islamic State-allied faction, according to a video message from its presumed new commander. In the short video in Arabic, top Boko Haram commander Bakura Modu, also known as Sahaba, urged his faction’s commanders ...
- UN experts warn of IED proliferation in DR Congo
June 15, 2021
A group of UN experts overseeing sanctions in the Democratic Republic of Congo has warned of a proliferation of homemade bombs in the country’s northeast, in an annual report seen by AFP Tuesday. In suggestions to the Security Council, the group encouraged the UN’s MONUSCO peacekeeping mission to increase its capabilities “including its awareness, search, detection ...
- Allied Democratic Forces: The Ugandan rebels working with IS in DR Congo
June 14, 2021
The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has long been a cradle of rebel activity, often the spill-over of conflict in neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Among the most notorious groups now operating there is Uganda’s Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The Islamist militant outfit was formed in the 1990s and primarily concerned itself with domestic ...
- Two Mali soldiers die in suspected jihadist ambush in Gao
June 14, 2021
Two soldiers have been killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists and eight United Nations troops wounded by a landmine in conflict-riven Mali, military and UN sources said Sunday. “Two of our men were killed by terrorists on Saturday night in an attack on one of our checkpoints, 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Gao,” a ...
- Somalia: Newly deployed AMISOM staff officers complete induction training
June 13, 2021
Fifty-Four (54) staff officers who recently deployed to serve under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), have completed induction training as part of their integration into the mission. The training, which kicked off in the various AMISOM sectors nearly a month ago, ended on Friday with the completion of the course by the last 15 ...
- Ivory Coast: Police officer, two soldiers killed in a blast near the border with Burkina Faso
June 13, 2021
Two soldiers and a police officer were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device in northeast Ivory Coast near the border with Burkina Faso, the military said Sunday. Army chief of staff General Lassina Doumbia said that at around 7:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Saturday a reconnaissance patrol “was the subject of a complex attack” ...
- One soldier killed in Ivory Coast attack
June 8, 2021
At least one soldier was killed in an attack in northeastern Ivory Coast near the border with jihadist-hit Burkina Faso, the military said Tuesday. “Armed individuals” late Monday attacked the village of Tougbo in the district of Bouna, armed forces headquarters said in a statement. An Ivorian soldier died of wounds, it said, citing a provisional toll. Read ...
- Shabaab mounts increased rate of attacks inside Kenya
May 29, 2021
Over the last several weeks, Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, has conducted a bevy of attacks inside northeastern Kenya. Since the beginning of the year, the jihadist group has steadily claimed operations inside the country. Starting on May 21, three Kenyan police officers were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Mandera ...
- Abubakar Shekau – Battle for supremacy among Islamist groups bodes ill for Sahel
May 26, 2021
The Nigerian military says it is investigating claims that the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is dead. His death has not been independently confirmed. It is also not the first time a claim like this has been made. The reports have nevertheless raised questions about who has the upper hand in the region – Boko ...
- UK to send 250 specialist troops to Somalia to battle Al Shabab
May 24, 2021
Britain is to send 250 troops to Somalia as the country battles against Al Shabab terrorists. The move, to take place “within the next 12 months:”, will represent the first official engagement of the new Army Ranger regiment. It comes just months after the creation of the Special Operation Brigade was announced by former SAS commander ...
- Ethiopia appeals for International support to combat landmines
May 22, 2021
The government of Ethiopia appealed for international support in its effort to eradicate the Anti-Personnel Mines legacy concealed in different parts of the country as a result of previous armed conflicts. The appeal for support includes financial and technical assistance, including military equipment. The country has gone through many armed conflicts internally and with external aggressors as ...
- International NGO to demine 7 million sqm conservation area in Zimbabwe
May 21, 2021
APOPO, an NGO operating in countries where there are landmines left over from previous conflicts, is working on a grand-scale project that will help local communities and wildlife in Zimbabwe, clearing more than seven million square metres of land. The US government has given a grant to APOPO, or Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development, to clear ...
- Kenya: 3 police officers killed in al Shabaab IED attack in Mandera
May 21, 2021
Three police officers were on Friday killed and three others injured when they were ambushed by al Shabaab militants in Banisa, Mandera county. Witnesses said the attackers had set an Improvised Explosive Devise on the road which hit a speeding police vehicle. This caused the vehicle to be badly damaged and burnt. The vehicle was carrying at ...
- The Desert Rats Ready Their Skills for Peacekeeping Mission
April 30, 2021
The second UK taskforce to deploy to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Mali is undertaking its final mission rehearsal exercise before deploying. The Desert Rats follow in the footsteps of The Light Dragoons-led taskforce who received a welcome reaction from the local population, with some of the locals asking them “to stay forever”. Lieutenant Colonel Will ...