Islamic State - The African Mirror

Sep

2021

Congo arrests Middle Eastern national for links to Islamist militia

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo has arrested a Middle Eastern national for alleged ties to an Islamist militia in the east of DRC, potentially the first time a non-African fighter has been found working with the group. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group led by Ugandans, has been blamed for dozens of massacres with hatchets and firearms in the last three years, mostly in remote villages. In 2019 the ADF's leadership pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS), which has in turn claimed dozens of the ADF's attacks, although United Nations experts say they have not found conclusive evidence…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

How big is the Islamist threat in Mozambique? And why are Rwandan troops there?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RWANDA has sent troops to Mozambique to assist the government in fighting against a four-year Islamist militant insurgency. Political scientist Phil Clark provides insights into the threat and why Rwanda is supporting Mozambique. PHIL CLARK, Professor of International Politics, SOAS, University of London Do the insurgents in Mozambique represent a new front of Islamic terrorism on the continent? Since 2017, jihadist militias in the northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado have mounted an armed insurgency against the Mozambican government. Their stated objective is to instil Sharia law across northern Mozambique. This is said to be in response to the region’s…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

French minister in Sahel amid talk of Russian hired guns for Mali

NEWS

FRANCE’S Armed Forces Minister has arrived in Niger as part of a two-day visit to allies in the Sahel region, where French-led military operations against Islamist militants are under threat from Mali's talks with Russian defence contractors. Diplomatic and security sources have told Reuters that Mali's year-old military junta is close to recruiting the Russian Wagner Group, and France has launched a diplomatic drive to thwart it, saying such an arrangement is "incompatible" with a continued French presence. West Africa's main political bloc, ECOWAS, has also expressed concern. But Mali's junta has dug in, noting that France has begun scaling…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

After killing Sahel Islamic State leader, France to hunt other chiefs

NEWS

JOHN IRISH and MICHEL ROSE FRENCH military forces have killed the leader of a West African affiliate of Islamic State by a drone strike in a "decisive blow" against the group and vowed to continue hunting down jihadist leaders to restore stability in the Sahel. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was the head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), a jihadist group that broke away from other militants in Mali in 2015 when it pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Since then, ISGS militants have spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, carried out hundreds of deadly attacks on…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Paris attacks trial disrupted after main defendant defies judge

WORLD

TANGI SALAUN and LUCIEN LIBERT THE main suspect in the 2015 Islamist attack that killed 130 people in Paris disrupted the trial for a second consecutive day on Thursday to make political statements from the dock, prompting the judge to briefly suspend the hearing. Salah Abdeslam, 31, is believed by prosecutors to be the only surviving member of the Islamic State cell that carried out the gun-and-bomb attacks on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France stadium on November 13, 2015. Salah Abdeslam The presiding judge granted him the right to speak in a discussion about…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Mali leader unharmed in knife attack

NEWS

TIEMOKO DIALLO and PAUL LORGERIE MALI’S interim President Assimi Goita, a special forces colonel who orchestrated two coups in the last year, said he escaped unharmed after an assailant attempted to stab him during prayers at a mosque in the capital Bamako. The president's office earlier said the attacker was overpowered by security officers, and investigations into the incident were ongoing. Mali, the theatre of French-supported operations against al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked insurgents for a decade, was thrown into political turmoil after a military junta led by Goita toppled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020. Goita served as vice-president…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Four soldiers killed in Mali

NEWS

FOUR soldiers were killed when their patrol was ambushed by suspected militants in central Mali yesterday, the army said in a statement The region is where Mali is battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The army said in a statement that the patrol was ambushed near the town of Lere on Sunday morning. "The provisional toll is at four soldiers killed," it said. The attack comes as France, which has deployed over 5,000 counter-terrorism soldiers in Mali to help combat militants, said on Friday that it has…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Thousands protest in Burkina Faso

NEWS

THOUSANDS took to the streets of Burkina Faso's capital yesterday to call for a tougher government response to a wave of jihadist attacks that have destabilised the West African country in recent years. Some had travelled hundreds of kilometres to attend the opposition-led demonstration in Ouagadougou, where protesters waved the red and green Burkinabe flag and blew whistles. "We had to show our dissatisfaction, show the distress of citizens who are crying out for security and peace," said opposition supporter Alpha Yago on the sidelines of the protest. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State originally based in neighbouring…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Burkina Faso president takes on defence role amid security crisis

NEWS

BURKINA Faso's president Roch Kabore has taken over the role of defence minister in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at stopping a wave of jihadist attacks that has plagued the West Africa country in recent years, according to a presidential decree. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State originally based in neighbouring Mali have embedded themselves across north and eastern Burkina Faso, launching regular attacks on civilians, including one this month that killed more than 130 people, the worst in years. Pressure has increased on Kabore to win back control and end a humanitarian crisis in which more than 1…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Double blasts: DRC blames Islamist militia

NEWS

ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo's army said an Islamist militia which claims links to Islamic State (IS) was responsible for two blasts in the eastern city of Beni, as the mayor closed local schools, churches and markets in a tightening of security. The army said Sunday's attacks bore the signature of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has used improvised explosive devices in the past. No one was killed in the two incidents apart from the suspected bomber in the second blast, after an explosive device he was carrying went off at a busy intersection. Another explosive device…