Al Qaeda-linked militants overran an African Union peacekeepers’ camp in the centre of Somalia, a security source and the group said on Tuesday, in what appears to be one of the al Shabaab group’s biggest attacks this year.
South Africa and other countries that have abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly in response to the war in Ukraine face intense international criticism. In South Africa, the domestic criticism has been extraordinarily shrill, and often clearly racialized. It is frequently assumed that abstention means that South Africa is in support of the Russian invasion, and this is either due to corrupt relations between Russian and South African elites, or nostalgia for support given to the anti-apartheid struggle by the Soviet Union, or both.
While international news headlines remain largely focused on the war in Ukraine, little attention is given to the horrific consequences of the war which are felt in many regions around the world. Even when these repercussions are discussed, disproportionate coverage is allocated to European countries, like Germany and Austria, due to their heavy reliance on Russian energy sources.
Webinaire
7 avril 2022
Le Centre d’études stratégiques de l’Afrique organisera un webinaire qui examinera en profondeur les origines, les objectifs et les moteurs de la coalition Jama’at Nusrat Al Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), affiliée à Al-Qaïda, au Sahel. L’analyse tiendra compte de la dynamique de la composition du groupe, de ses objectifs au fil du temps, ainsi que des facteurs politiques et économiques qui lui ont permis de persister.
La perte de munitions et d’autres matériels létaux par les forces armées et les opérations de paix africaines est un facteur clé du maintien des groupes militants à l’origine de l’instabilité sur le continent.
En l’espace d’une semaine, en février 2021, des militants de l’État islamique en Afrique de l’Ouest (EIAO) ont envahi les bases militaires nigérianes des villes de Marte et de Dikwa, dans l’État de Borno. Plus de 20 soldats ont été tués dans ces attaques. Les militants ont probablement saisi au moins une demi-douzaine de véhicules et des centaines d’armes. Les incidents ont été importants mais non exceptionnels.
Les groupes islamistes militants du Sahel menacent les zones frontalières des États côtiers où les injustices vécues par communautés d’éleveurs peuvent constituer un point d’entrée pour les intérêts extrémistes.
La violence des groupes islamistes militants au Burkina Faso, au Mali et dans l’ouest du Niger a augmenté de 70 % en 2021. Cela poursuit une escalade et une propagation ininterrompues d’événements violents dans la région depuis 2015. Initialement centrée au Mali, l’activité des groupes islamistes militants s’est progressivement déplacée vers le Burkina Faso, où se produisent désormais 58 % de tous les événements violents au Sahel.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged the international community to “fully invest” to help impoverished Niger fight jihadist insurgents threatening the government in Niamey and neighbouring countries.
The effects of the war in Ukraine leave policymakers with little room to maneuver.
Sub-Saharan African countries find themselves facing another severe and exogenous shock. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a surge in food and fuel prices that threatens the region’s economic outlook. This latest setback could not have come at a worse time—as growth was starting to recover and policymakers were beginning to address the social and economic legacy of COVID-19 pandemic and other development challenges. The effects of the war will be deeply consequential, eroding standards of living and aggravating macroeconomic imbalances.
An ISIS franchise is tightening its hold on parts of north-eastern Nigeria near Lake Chad. Abuja should enhance its containment strategy, helping rival militants surrender, protecting internally displaced persons and working with neighbouring countries to cut off outside material support for the jihadists.
In the fall of 2012, as Syria plunged into civil war and the Eurozone crisis generated panic across global markets, a parliamentary election in Ukraine signaled trouble ahead to those who were paying attention. The results that trickled out on Oct. 28, 2012, indicated that then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions had secured a strong position through dubious constitutional maneuvers and ballot manipulation.