Latest Articles about Africa
Violence and Viruses: How a Poorly Armed Insurgency in the Congo Poses a Global Threat
On October 21, angry locals filled the streets of the Congo’s Nord Kivu province town of Beni. The crowd torched the post office, destroyed parts of the town hall and threw stones at vehicles belonging to health workers fighting a deadly outbreak of the Ebola... MORE
Lev Dengov: Ramzan Kadyrov’s Middleman in Libya
On October 10, Russian diplomat and a key middleman between Russia and post-2011 Libya, Lev Dengov, officially dismissed accusations by several Western information outlets that Moscow was militarily involved in the most recent outbreak of violence in this war-torn North African country. Specifically, reports pointed... MORE
Briefs
Lines Between al-Qaeda and JNIM Blur in Burkina Faso Brian M. Perkins Militant violence continues to increase in Burkina Faso as both local and regional militant organizations have spread within the country. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has long been the primary al-Qaeda-linked group in... MORE
Boko Haram’s Ultra-Extremist Side Resurfaces: From the Execution of Mamman Nur to Humanitarian Workers
In September, reports emerged that one of Boko Haram’s longstanding leaders, Mamman Nur, was assassinated. His killers were not from the Nigerian military, which had long pursued him. The Nigerian government first declared Nur wanted after he allegedly masterminded the suicide bombing at the UN... MORE
Russian PMCs in Yemen: Kremlin-Style ‘Security Export’ in Action?
On September 6, Russian military correspondent Semen Pegov posted information on his Telegram-channel WarGonzo (WG) about “members of one Russian Private Military Company [PMC] being currently deployed in Yemen.” He ascribed this information to data received from “three anonymous sources in the siloviki [security services... MORE
Increased Attacks Suggest al-Shabaab Resurgence
Al-Shabaab’s recent attacks in Somalia underline the threat the militant group continues to pose in the county and beyond. Since 2007, African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops backed by international partners have waged a military campaign against the terror group, forcing it out of... MORE
Al-Tajouri, Al-Kani, Badi and Trabelsi: The Militia Leaders Fighting for Tripoli
On September 25, the Tripoli Security Directorate announced the end of fighting in the Libyan capital Tripoli (Libya Observer, Sept 26, 2018). This declaration comes after almost a month of fierce clashes that left around 117 people dead and 560 others wounded (Libya Observer, Sept... MORE
Boko Haram to Ansaru to ISWAP: A Post-Mortem Analysis of Abu Fatima
The jihadist group Anṣar al-Muslimin fi Bilad al-Sudan (Ansaru) broke away from Boko Haram in a formal announcement through fliers dropped in Kano, Nigeria in January 2012 (Vanguard, February 1, 2012). However, Ansaru’s founder, the long-time Nigerian al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) kidnapper, Khalid... MORE
Kremlin Cover-Up of Murdered Russian Journalists in Central Africa Expands
The Kremlin has seemingly taken another step to cover up the murders of three Russian journalists who were killed at the end of July in the Central African Republic (CAR), while investigating Moscow’s dispatch of weapons there. Pyotr Verzilov, an activist linked with the... MORE
Briefs
Mali: Election Maintains Status Quo Amid Rising Jihadist Threat Mali's presidential election was preceded by outbreaks of violence and terrorist attacks before concluding with a contentious run-off election on August 12 after the first round of voting on July 29 failed to produce a clear... MORE