Terrorist violence continues to pose a serious threat to stability and security across West Africa, with the Sahel region remaining the epicentre of global terrorism-related deaths.
In recent years, terrorist groups, particularly those affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, have increasingly relied on asymmetric tactics, notably Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and the weaponization of commercial drones. These tactics, combined with the cross-border mobility of terrorist networks, fighters and operational resources, have significantly increased the lethality and reach of attacks targeting security forces, civilians and critical infrastructure. This evolving threat environment has undermined stabilization efforts in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, as well as along the northern borders of coastal West African countries.
Read more…
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- UN peacekeeper killed and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in northern Mali
October 15, 2020
A UN peacekeeper was killed in northern Mali and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Thursday, the UN mission said. The attack came as civil servants in the capital, Bamako, protested against the “selective release” of foreign hostages in hostage swap deals by the government. The attack on the UN Multidimensional ...
- A closer look at Congo’s Islamist rebels
September 30, 2020
Since the start of 2019, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in and around eastern Congo’s Beni region. These atrocities — which U.N. monitors have said may be war crimes — are the latest in periodic waves of massacres in the area since late 2014. This violence followed the start of a large-scale Congolese army ...
- Nigeria: 4 soldiers, 10 policemen, 4 others killed by terrorists
September 27, 2020
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), said 18 persons, among them 4 soldiers, 10 policemen and 4 civilians, have been killed by Boko Haram terrorists in an ambush in Borno State. The deceased met their death Friday while providing security for the convoy of the Borno State Civilians Relocation Committee. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche ...
- Al-Shabaab’s Improvised Explosive Device Supply Chain Gambit In Somalia
September 22, 2020
Al-Shabaab ended 2019 with a truck-borne improvised explosive device (IED) attack that killed at least 82 people and wounded dozens more in Mogadishu, Somalia. It capped a decade of increasingly deadly complex suicide attacks by the Somali terrorist group that routinely involves homemade IED devices constructed from commercially imported chemical precursors. These materials transit through ...
- Six killed in suicide attack in Cameroon’s Far North region
September 13, 2020
At least six civilians have been killed and 10 others injured in a suicide attack in Zeleved, a locality in Cameroon’s Far North region, according to several security sources. Local officials interviewed by Xinhua confirmed the attack and said the traditional ruler and his wife were among those killed in the attack that occurred late Friday. Boko ...
- Kenya: 3 al Shabaab militants blow themselves up while setting up IED in Garissa
September 11, 2020
Three suspected al Shabaab militants died after they were blown up by their own bomb device in Garissa, near the Kenyan border with Somalia, according to police reports. While the incident happened on Thursday evening, information and confirmations from authorities became available on Friday. Police reports say an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED) exploded while being assembled by ...
- Several killed in suicide bombing outside mosque in Somalia
September 11, 2020
At least six people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside a mosque in the Somalian port city of Kismayo, according to a regional official. “A suicide bomber wearing a heavy vest of explosives targeted the Muslim congregation at the Qaadim mosque in the centre of the town as people were leaving the mosque after ...
- Sudan: Attorney General Announces Finding Explosive Materials and Warns Citizens
September 10, 2020
The Attorney General, Tajal-Sir Al-Hibir, announced at a media briefing Wednesday the detection of explosive materials that pose a security threat to Sudan and neighboring countries. Present at the media briefing were the General Director of the Police Forces, Deputy Commander and the Spokesman of the Rapid Support Forces. He said that the explosive materials, after being ...
- Two French soldiers killed in Mali
September 5, 2020
The two soldiers died after their armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device on September 5. A third soldier was wounded in the explosion. French President Emmanuel Macron expresses his “deep respect” for the soldiers’ “sacrifice” and sends his “sincere condolences to their families and loved ones”, the presidential office said. France started its military operations in ...
- UN to set up new peacekeeping base in South Sudan
September 2, 2020
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said on Wednesday it will set up a temporary peacekeeping base in Central Equatoria’s Lobonok County. The decision followed a surge in armed attacks on civilians and humanitarian convoys in the region, UNMISS said in a statement. The rise in violence came after the killing of six bodyguards of ...
- Namibia: Police Find 13 Explosives At Oshikoto School
September 1, 2020
The Namibian police have found 13 different explosives at Tsintsabis Combined School in Oshikoto region. The police made the discover after it embarked on a de-mining operation at three local schools in the region. The explosive division was requested by the Oshikoto Regional Council education director to conduct the operation at the Tsintsabis Combined School, King Kauluma ...
- Cameroon: Boko Haram Suicide Bombers Strike Displacement Site
August 25, 2020
The Islamist armed group Boko Haram used apparent child suicide bombers in an unlawful attack on a site for displaced people in the Far North region of Cameroon, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack, carried out overnight between August 1 and 2, 2020 in the town of Nguetechewe, killed at least 17 civilians, including 5 ...
- Nigeria’s growing insecurity offers expansion opportunities for Boko Haram
August 3, 2020
A vast shockwave was seen. Boko Haram is extending its reach from north-east Nigeria into the country’s north-west. It is taking advantage of old and new local conflicts and insecurities to further embed itself in the area through violent extremism. Since January 2019 thousands of people in the north-west states of Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara ...
- Landmines, improvised explosive devices pose deadly risks for displaced in Sahel and Lake Chad
July 28, 2020
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for stronger efforts to mitigate the risks for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) posed by landmines and improvised explosive devices in Africa’s conflict-ridden Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions. Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a growing number of fatal incidents involving forcibly displaced populations. Mines, ...
- Maritime security can help resolve the Mozambique insurgency
July 14, 2020
Over recent months the bloody insurgency in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado has taken an unprecedented maritime turn. If it worsens, it could have profound socio-economic and security implications for Southern Africa. The Islamic State-inspired Ahlu-Sunnah Wal Jama’at (Al-Sunnah) has been attacking Cabo Delgado inhabitants since 2017, killing over 1 000 people to date. Al-Sunnah has launched ...