Over the last few days, jihadis have mounted two attacks inside prisons in Somalia and Niger. While the mutiny inside the Nigerien prison was successful, the Somali prison assault appears to have been thwarted. Nonetheless, both incidents highlight the lingering threat of jihadi prison breaks on the continent and the importance jihadist groups put on such operations.
In May 2016, the Islamic State (IS) issued a eulogy for the infamous Sudanese jihadist Mohamad Makkawi Ibrahim through its weekly Al-Naba newsletter. The eulogy flew under the radar at the time but offers an interesting look into the career of one of the Islamic State’s first so-called “martyrs” in Somalia. It also provides an early chronicle of the Islamic State’s history in the Horn of Africa.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, took responsibility for a suicide car bombing targeting Djiboutian and Somali troops at a military base in central Somalia yesterday. The blast was the 14th suicide bombing conducted by Shabaab so far this year.
Shabaab’s video, which demonstrates its new so-called ‘special forces’ training center, is eerily similar to productions put out by the Afghan Taliban before it took over Afghanistan.
The photos act as a representation of JNIM’s training programs across the Sahel.
The Islamic State’s Mozambique Province continues to document its da’wah campaigns across large portions of Cabo Delgado Province.
In Mali and Mozambique, the Islamic State’s men are putting guns away and engaging with locals to help sensitize communities to its ideology and garner public support. In doing so, this highlights the extent of its control and/or influence.
Shabaab continues to undo progress made against it in central Somalia; the United States continues to go after its financials and conducting periodic drone strikes against its forces.
In early 2014, as Muslim civilians were being massacred in Central African Republic as part of a cycle of violence between Muslim and Christian militias, al-Qaeda went on a full-court press in an attempt to foster any jihadist movement to take up arms in the country. These attempts, however, largely fell on deaf ears. As such, this offers a unique glimpse into when, and potentially how, jihadist mobilization attempts fail.
The Islamic State documents at least 36 clashes between its men and Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s East African wing, between March and December 2023.
The current Islamic State spokesman announced yet another global campaign for the group’s global affiliates and supporters. Though intrinsically propagandistic, prior global campaigns had severe real world consequences.
Ali Mohamud Rage, Shabaab’s spokesman, says the al-Qaeda branch is willing to spill blood over the recent Red Sea access deal signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
At least 62 people have been killed by the Islamic State’s local arm in western Uganda since June.
Al-Qaeda’s General Command, or its central leadership, called on Muslims to attack American, European, and Israeli institutions, interests, and embassies around the world. Additionally, it called on Muslims in the West to strike from within.
Mahad Karate, a senior official and a deputy emir of Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, again named several al-Qaeda leaders present in Mogadishu during the infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident in 1993.
Featuring many women and children, Shabaab’s large protests in southern Somalia sought to put the current fighting in Israel and Palestine into the context of global jihad.
Both al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, al-Qaeda’s branches in North and West Africa, respectively, have openly praised Hamas for its mass killings of Jews in recent days.
Shabaab congratulates Palestinian militant factions for their “victories” over Jews. This is not the first time Shabaab has interjected itself into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At least 14 successful or attempted suicide bombings were reported in Somalia in September. This is the single highest monthly total since Shabaab began its suicide bombing operations in 2006.
As of Sept. 2023, the future of Mali looks bleaker than ever. If you’re a jihadist, however, then the future is very bright.
The U.S. government designated Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, the financial emir of the Islamic State’s Somali Province. This move, however, has much wider implications than just the Islamic State’s Somali operations.
In the face of delayed or stalled offensive action taken against it, Shabaab seeks to rally its forces.
The massive raid comes as Shabaab is facing its biggest challenge to its rule and territory in over a decade.
Abu Yasir al-Jaza’iri, an Algerian ideologue in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, offers the group’s harshest rebuke of the Islamic State to date.
Jeff Woodke, who spent over six years captive in the Sahel, and Olivier Dubois, who spent almost two years as a hostage, were finally freed from the clutches of al-Qaeda’s men in the Sahel. The United States has denied paying a ransom.
Musa Baluku, the leader of the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province (known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces), has joins other infamous Sunni jihadists actively sought after by the United States government.
Several communities in Mali’s northern Menaka Region have turned to al Qaeda’s men in the face of extreme pressure and violence from the Islamic State’s local wing.
Over the last two weeks, al Qaeda’s West African branch has made a more concerted effort to advance closer to the Malian capital of Bamako.
German national Jorg Lange was finally freed after being held captive by Islamic State militants in the Sahel since 2018.