Africa

Bottom Line Up Front

The conflict in Sudan has seen indiscriminate bombings, extrajudicial executions, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war and yet despite this, has remained on the back pages, overtaken by attention on Gaza and the war in Ukraine.

Before leaving office, the Biden administration and the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against both sides in the conflict—the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armes Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

A collection of testimonies of the protest of Sudanese refugees in the Agadez camp, in Niger

As the protests by refugees continue in the controversial “ humanitarian center ” of Agadez , the government of Niger received Elizabeth Tan, director of the Division for International Protection at the UNHCR office in Geneva, in early December. This was an important visit given the profile of Tan, who has worked for UNHCR since 1995 and has operated in several African contexts, including Burundi, Egypt and Sudan.

OVERVIEW

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is a terrorist group based in Mali and active across much of West Africa, including parts of Burkina Faso and Niger. It formed in March 2017, when four Mali-based extremist groups—Ansar al-Din, al-Murabitun, the Macina Liberation Front (MLF), and the Sahara Emirate subgroup of al-Qa‘ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—announced that they had merged, formalizing cooperation among them. The leader of JNIM, Iyad ag Ghali, pledged the group’s allegiance to the amir of AQIM, to the amir of al-Qa‘ida, and to the leader of the Taliban.

Established In: January 2015

Established By: Unknown

Also Known As: MLF, Macina Liberation Movement, Katibat Macina

Country Of Origin: Mali

Leaders: Amadou Kouffa

Key Members: Amadou Kouffa

Operational Area: Mali

Number Of Members: Unknown

Involved In: Armed Attacks, Bomb Attacks

Established In: 2012

Established By: Unknown

Also Known As: Ansar al-Din, AAD

Country Of Origin: Mali

Leaders: Amadou Kouffa

Key Members: Amadou Kouffa

Operational Area: Mali, Senegal, Mauritania

Number Of Members: Unknown

Involved In: Armed Attacks, Bomb Attacks

Established In: 1996-1997

Established By: Ibrahim Haji Jaama’ Al-Afghani

Also Known As: Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, HSM, Al-Shabaab al-Islaam, Al-Shabaab al-Islamiya, Al-Shabaab al-Jihaad al Shabaab, As-Saḥab, Ash-Shabaab, Hezb al-Shabaab

His orange henna-dyed beard and striking eyewear would make him easy to pick out in a crowd, but Abdul Qadir Mumin has remained elusive.

The Somali leader of the Islamic State (IS) group has in all likelihood risen to the status of strongman of the entire organisation, even if he lacks the official title, analysts say.

Active

Terror organization: Islamic State in Somalia.

Status: Emir of the Islamic State in Somalia.

Role: He is a Somali Islamist and the leader of the Islamic State in Somalia. He was formerly a senior religious authority in al-Shabaab. (born between 1950 and 1953).

Fleeing for their lives from Arab militias on the rampage is nothing new for the Sudanese people escaping over the border into Chad – their exhausted faces encapsulate the devastation and suffering they have been experiencing over decades.

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was finally removed from power after six months of peaceful protest earlier in 2019. The protesters were hopeful for a new beginning but their quest for a civilian government has been shut down by a military council that includes Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally called Hemedti, the leader of a paramilitary unit called the Rapid Support Forces that has its roots in the Janjaweed. Tsega Etefa explains who the Janjaweed are and why their presence doesn’t bode well for peace in Sudan.