Islamic State - The African Mirror

Nov

2022

U.S. targets weapons trafficking with sanctions on Islamic State in Somalia

DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS THE United States issued sanctions targeting the Islamic State in Somalia, designating members of the group and others it accused of being involved in a "terrorist weapons trafficking network" in Eastern Africa. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said several of the people designated in Tuesday's action have sold weapons to or were active al Shabaab members. The al Qaeda-linked Islamist group claimed responsibility for two car bombs that exploded outside the education ministry in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least 120 people in the deadliest blasts since a truck bomb killed more than 500 people at…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

US and UK warn of possible attack in Nigeria’s capital

NEWS

THE United States and Britain warned of a possible terrorist attack in Nigeria's federal capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets. Nigeria is fighting an Islamist insurgency mainly in the northeast, but in July the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a raid on a prison in Abuja, which freed around 440 inmates, raising fears that insurgents were venturing from their enclaves. The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria said "there is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically Abuja" and added that shopping malls, law enforcement facilities and international organisations were among the…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Militants attack Mali’s main military base, situation ‘under control’

NEWS

FADIMATA KONTAO ISLAMIST militants struck Mali's main military base, just outside the capital Bamako, in a complex attack involving car bombs, but the armed forces said they had repelled the assault and had the situation under control. Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have repeatedly raided bases across Mali during a decade-long insurgency concentrated in the north and centre but never so close to Bamako in the south. Heavy gunfire rang out for about an hour early on Friday at the Kati camp, about 15 km (10 miles) northwest of Bamako. A convoy carrying the leader of Mali's…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Nigeria recaptures 27 inmates after jail attack claimed by Islamic State

NEWS

NIGERIA'S security forces recaptured 27 inmates who fled from a prison in the capital in Abuja following an attack claimed by Islamic State, the correctional service said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Tuesday's raid on the Kuje prison, which freed around 440 inmates, among them Islamist militants, raising fears that insurgents are venturing from their enclaves in the northeast. Three of the attackers were killed in the encounter while several others escaped with bullet wounds, a Nigerian Correctional Service spokesperson said in a statement. The prison attack has raised questions about the security of Nigeria's correctional facilities, especially those holding…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Over 440 inmates on run after raid on Nigerian prison

NEWS

ABRAHAM ACHIRGA ISLAMIC STATE claimed responsibility for a raid on a Nigerian prison in the capital Abuja which freed around 440 inmates, raising fears that insurgents are venturing from their enclaves in the northeast. Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary at the interior ministry, told journalists outside the Abuja prison - which has 900 inmates - that a security officer was killed during Tuesday night's raid and three others were injured. He said suspected Boko Haram attackers came for members who were held in the prison. "They came specifically for their co-conspirators, but in order to get them ... some of them…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Islamic State ‘Beatles’ cell member convicted in U.S. of beheading hostages

WORLD

JAN WOLFE A U.S. jury convicted a former British citizen for his role in a notorious Islamic State hostage-taking plot that led to the beheading of American journalists and aid workers. After a six-week trial and four hours of deliberations, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder. In convicting Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was part of an Islamic State terrorist cell, nicknamed "The Beatles" for their British accents, that beheaded American hostages in Iraq and Syria. Some former hostages, released by the "Beatles"…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

U.N. peacekeepers deployed to northeastern Mali amid spate of killings

NEWS

PAUL LORGERIE THE United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali has deployed two units to the African country's tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Niger to respond to a spate of civilian killings, it said. A surge in attacks since early March by an Islamic State affiliate has left hundreds of civilians dead, according to official and military sources. The region has long been a hotspot of jihadist and militia violence in West Africa. "The security situation in the Tri-border area... particularly in the localities of Tessit, Talataye, Ansongo and the Menaka region, has deteriorated considerably in recent weeks," said the…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

“Regional armies outmatched by tech-savvy jihadists”

NEWS

WEST African armies need a new strategy to combat the growing jihadist threat because improved technologies have given militants the upper hand as they seek to destabilise the Sahel region, Niger's president Mohamed Bazoum said on Monday. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their reach in the central Sahel since 2017, staging regular attacks that have killed thousands of people and displaced millions across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. "Technological advances are now allowing rebel groups to access a number of tools which used to be the privilege of state forces," said Bazoum, noting the use…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Militants kill at least 31 in central Mali, say local authorities

NEWS

MILITANTS killed at least 31 people in central Mali on Friday when they fired upon a bus ferrying people to a local market, local authorities said - the latest deadly attack in a region racked by violent insurgency. The bus was attacked by unidentified gunmen as it travelled its twice-weekly route from the village of Songho to a market in Bandiagara, 10 kilometres (6 miles) away, said Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass. "Armed men ... shot at the vehicle, slashed the tires, and shot at the people," Guindo said. He and another local official, who spoke…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda and Congo attack Islamist militia in joint operation

NEWS

ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE UGANDA and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have mounted air and artillery strikes in a joint operation in eastern Congo against an Islamic State-linked militia, both countries said. Three witnesses also said that Ugandan troops crossed the border into DRC at Nobili in the afternoon. DRC's government spokesman Patrick Muyaya denied Ugandan soldiers had crossed but Ugandan army spokeswoman Flavia Byekwaso said they had. The strikes targeted the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia, which has been based in the DRC since the late 1990s and is blamed for killing hundreds of villagers in raids after it pledged…