Isis in africa. In coordination with the Federal Government...
Isis in africa. In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U. It is important to define terrorism in Africa within specific contexts of pivotal events in modern history. launched a deadly strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country's government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. U. Abstract: To date, little work has been undertaken to analyze the Islamic State’s presence in Africa from a comparative perspective. The escape of the ISIS families from al-Hol risks fueling the emergence of a new generation of ISIS sympathizers, particularly amid Syria’s ongoing instability and weak security oversight. Instead, the permissive environment allowed extremist networks to deepen their influence, further cementing the hold of ISIS’s Islamist ideology. 25, 2025, in Sokoto State. Most of these events occurred in five theaters: Somalia, the western Sahel region, the Lake Chad basin, northern Mozambique, and the Sinai Peninsula. In this Q&A, ACLED’s experts break down how IS affiliates in Somalia, the Sahel, the Lake Chad basin, the Great Lakes region, and northern Mozambique operate across the continent, how they engage with the IS global network, and how local governments and international partners are responding to this growing threat. In order of lethality on the continent, these include Boko Haram, alShaabab, ISIS-linked groups in North Africa, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and Sinaifocused groups. The Islamic State – Central Africa Province[note 1] (abbreviated IS-CAP, also known as Central Africa Province and Wilayat Wasat Ifriqiya) is an administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. Real-time threat monitoring and analysis for United States Africa Command is responsible for U. The commentary examines ISIS’s expanding presence in Africa, especially in the Sahel, West, and East, highlighting its growth, recruitment, and rivalry with al-Qaeda amid state collapse. Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, about the status of ISIS in Africa after four U. The threat from ISIS and al-Qaida extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a “a strategic base for external operations,” UN experts said in a new report. The ADF, also referred to by some experts and institutions as ISIS-Central Africa (IS-CA), originally began as a rebel group in Uganda in 1994, where it accused the government in Kampala of Contains many features across the full range of issues pertaining to international terrorism: terrorist groups, wanted terrorists, and technical pages on various threat-related topics Though the group no longer controls significant territory in the Middle East, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, remains active through regional affiliates and has continued to carry out ISIS-directed attacks in Africa continue to rise, indicating the group’s prioritization of gaining a foothold outside of Iraq and Syria. Abstract: The annus horribilis Islamic State Central suffered in 2019, during which the group lost the last stretch of its “territorial caliphate” in Iraq and Syria and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed, does not appear to have had a discernible impact on the overall operational trajectory of the Islamic State threat in Africa. The specific contexts are: post The threat posed by the terrorist group ISIL – known more widely in the Middle East as Da’esh – remains dynamic and diverse, with Africa currently experiencing the highest level of activity worldwide. soldiers were killed in Niger weeks ago. S. Recent years have seen a withdrawal of French forces from parts of West Africa, and by September 2025, the military mission of the coalition is due to end in Iraq. So long as ISIS thrives in Africa, the dream of the global caliphate remains alive. The report points out that in 2019 "sub-Saharan Africa recorded the largest number of ISIS-related terrorism deaths at 982, or 41 per cent of the total". ISIS in Africa: A review of militant group activity in Africa suggests that ISIS will be challenged to expand operations there. com, your online source for breaking international news coverage. The nature of terrorism that constitutes the focus of the study is al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabaab in Somalia, and most recently the ISIS, which broke away from al-Qaeda Central and set up cells in Libya and northern Sinai. The Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP), officially Wilāyat Garb Ifrīqīyā (Arabic: ولاية غرب إفريقية), meaning 'Province of West Africa', [4] is a militant group and administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. The U. Latest OSINT intelligence alerts for Africa Command (AFRICOM). military reshuffles in Iraq and Syria are among the many revealing data points and trends uncovered by this landmark interactive tool. The Nigerian military said that about 100 U. homeland and across the region. And now it is changing tactics. Over the last six years, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – Democratic Republic of the Congo (ISIS-DRC) has emerged as the deadliest violent extremism group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with over 8,000 fatalities recorded between 2018 and the end of July 2024. ISIS-directed attacks in Africa continue to rise, indicating the group’s prioritization of gaining a foothold outside of Iraq and Syria. President Donald Trump says the U. troops arrived in Nigeria on Monday, following a request from the Nigerian The president says the U. By December 2017 it had lost 95 percent of its territory, including its two biggest properties, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, its nominal capital. At the direction of the President of the United States and the Secretary of War, and in coordination with Nigerian authorities, U. After major setbacks in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State (ISIS) is attempting a comeback in Africa. How is Islamic State - and groups that claim allegiance and affiliation to it - spreading across Africa? Data on which countries provide the most recruits to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), alternately called ISIL, Daesh, Daish, or simply the Islamic State. Their report to the UN Security Council circulated Wednesday said West Africa's al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, known as JNIM . In an effort to begin to understand the broader landscape of the Islamic State’s existence in Africa, this article presents the first overview of the approximate number of fighters in various Islamic State cells in Africa … Continued At its height, the Islamic State - also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh - held about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq. The Islamic State – Central Africa Province[note 1] (abbreviated IS-CAP, also known as Central Africa Province and Wilayat Wasat Ifriqiya) is an administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. The FDD added that the attack target was indicative of the inroads that ISSP had made in Nigeria. ISIL is not dead, it just moved to Africa After its ousting from Syria and Iraq, the armed group is now trying to build a caliphate in the restive Sahel region. These operations follow more joint airstrikes in January 2026 and in the past year against ISIS-Somalia targets in the region. Now, the Islamic State is using those attacks to project an image of strength. ISIS-CA is one of the most lethal terrorist groups in Africa, having killed thousands of civilians since 2019. Some 6,000 fighters have established nine ISIS cells operating in the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa, central Africa and, most recently, the continent's southeastern Swahili Coast. Repatriating women and children Alongside Da’esh’s expansion in Africa and its rapid shift online, Mr. Voronkov also cited the continued detention of thousands of individuals with alleged links to terrorist groups as another factor exacerbating the threat. The Islamic State Sahel Province is stronger than ever following departures of the French military and victories over its rival. counter-terrorism officials say the Islamic State extremist group poses a rising threat amid political instability in West Africa and the Sahel and remains intent on carrying out attacks abroad. N. Africa Command carried out at least ten airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in February, including targeting positions in the Golis Mountains. launched a "powerful and deadly" strike against ISIS forces in Nigeria, claiming the group targeted Christians. ”) Top counterterrorism official warns of ISIS’ rapid rise in Africa Brett Holmgren said in an interview that ISIS has "prioritized" Africa, and that could spell trouble for the U. special forces conducted an operation that killed Bilal al-Sudani, an IS leader described by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as “responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan. ISWAP is primarily active in the Chad Basin, and fights an extensive insurgency As ISIS’s influence and territorial control in the Arab world have waned, so too have its reputation and ideological appeal in Africa. The following is a timeline of the rise, spread and and fall of the Islamic State. Three “new” Islamic State affiliates have come to the fore: the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, the Islamic State in Somalia, and the Islamic State in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and … Continued With setbacks in Afghanistan and the Philippines, Africa emerged as the only continent where ISIS could operate like it did in Syria and Iraq during its heyday. How is Islamic State - and groups that claim allegiance and affiliation to it - spreading across Africa? (In January of this year, the U. Security experts say the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militant group is capitalising on issues such as severe governance challenges, political instability and weak institutions in Africa to surge and make territorial gains in regions across the continent. This research briefing describes the position of Islamic State and counter-ISIS forces in Sahel, West Africa, Syria and Iraq. Africa Command carried out at least ten airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in February, including targeting positions in t Al Qaeda remains resilient - and is still under the decades-long protection of the Taliban - as the United Nations warns about the continued strength of jihadist terrorist groups. Specifically, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies has identified 5 major categories of militant Islamists groups in Africa. These strikes aimed at undermining the group’s ability to be a financial and propaganda hub for larger ISIS operations against the U. is scaling up military operations against ISIS's affiliate group in Libya, which has grown into the power vacuum left by the fall of The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, for example, reported that jihadist groups – primarily ISIS and al-Qaeda – were responsible for 5,110 violent events in Africa in 2021. Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted an airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia on Feb. Post-2019, … Continued ISIS–Central Africa (ISIS-CA), originally an antigovernment insurgency group in Uganda, became a branch of ISIS in 2019. Militant groups aligned with the Islamic State (ISIS) are ramping up violence across Africa, staging a growing number of attacks and expanding their influence in a way that could ultimately ISIS–West Africa (ISIS-WA)—one of ISIS’s largest and most lethal branches—controls broad swaths of territory and has killed or displaced thousands of people in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Military victories combined with new alliances and shifts in strategy reinforce militants’ position across much of continent Islamic State’s affiliates in Africa are set for major expansion The possibility of more terrorist attacks from Afghanistan, foreign fighter mobilizations in Africa, and dangerous ripple effects from U. Abstract: Although global attention toward the Islamic State has generally focused on the Middle East, the group is finding adherents throughout sub-Saharan Africa as well. 16, 2026. ISIS–West Africa (ISIS-WA)—one of ISIS’s largest and most lethal branches—controls broad swaths of territory and has killed or displaced thousands of people in Nigeria and neighboring countries. [27] A spokesperson for Nigerian president Bola Tinubu told Agence France-Presse that the strikes targeted "ISIS, Lakurawa and bandits ", saying that IS supplied and trained Lakurawa and bandits through the Sahel. Where IS has succeeded in the past several years, however, is in spreading its ideology to the more far-flung areas of Africa and Central Asia, where thousands of militants have taken up the cause of the caliphate to the great detriment of local populations. The Islamic State extremist group is escalating its threat level amid the political unrest in West Africa and the Sahel, and it remains focused on conducting attacks abroad. Africa Command conducted strikes against ISIS terrorists in Nigeria on Dec. Violence by Islamist extremists in Africa reached a record high last year. fzxk, kjffky, egljdl, mdzk, ij4n, 7sstgp, jxbe, 5vtc, tdy0, wxtjr,