SOMALIA: PRO-IS FIGHTERS EXPLOIT CLAN LOYALTIES Islamic State-linked (IS) militants took over the port town of Qandala in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region early on October 26, apparently facing little resistance (Shabelle News, October 26). Qandala is a strategic target, a hub for smuggled weapons brought... MORE

Faced with a range of potential threats, Algeria is one of the countries most concerned with developments in Libya. Close adherence to a doctrine of non-interference has limited Algeria’s role in its neighbor’s affairs. However, when Fayez al-Sarraj, the president of Libya’s Government of National... MORE

Al-Shabaab has increased attacks in areas near the Kenyan border in recent months, as local and international military action pushes the al-Qaeda affiliated group out of its hideouts in southern Somalia. Analysts believe the militants now have bases in the north and northeastern regions of... MORE

MALI: ISLAMIC STATE CONSIDERS ITS ALTERNATIVES Islamic State (IS) has acknowledged a pledge of allegiance from a fledgling group of Islamist fighters in Mali following several recent cross-border attacks by the group, and as IS itself comes under pressure in Iraq and Syria. On October... MORE

MYANMAR: GROWING FEARS OVER ROHINGYA FIGHTERS Gunmen killed nine police officers in a series of raids on border posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on October 9, an area where tensions run high between Myanmar’s Buddhists and its Muslim Rohingya population. The raids have prompted violent... MORE

Over the past two years, the most significant political development in the Middle East has been Russia’s increasing political and military presence. Aside from its deepening military and political footprint in Syria, Russia is improving its relations with Egypt, where, beginning on October 15, the... MORE

The Nigerian government announced in August that it had resumed amnesty payments to former militants in the Niger Delta, many of them members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) (Naija Headlines, August 4). It had significantly reduced the amount of... MORE

In the mountains of northern Somalia, Shaykh Abdulqadir Mumin, a former al-Shabaab ideologue, is an up-and-coming leader of the emerging Islamic State (IS) cell in East Africa. Reports indicate that Mumin, who is believed to be in his late 50s, was born in Puntland, a... MORE

South Sudan achieved independence in July 2011, but the era of peace most citizens had hoped the event would initiate remains elusive, thanks in large part to the ravages imposed by both a tribally oriented government and a slew of warlords with outsized personal ambitions.... MORE