Africa

Africa File, March 14, 2024: Foreign Fighters and Jihadi Rivalry in the Sahel; Somalia Backslides

Key Takeaways: Sahel. The Islamic State’s Sahel Province (ISSP) has established itself as a hub for foreign fighters, raising its transnational threat risk to Northwest Africa and Europe. ISSP and al Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate have both taken advantage of an informal détente to improve their positions in the Burkinabe, Malian, …

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Egypt, Not The Islamic World As A Whole, Failed To Stop Israel’s Killing Of The Palestinians

The fact of the matter is that Egypt’s position towards this conflict was pivotal in determining its dynamics and the arguably genocidal consequences in the present. Its leadership’s hatred of Hamas is entirely responsible for why this country didn’t play a greater role in trying to alleviate the Palestinians’ suffering. …

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US targets al Shabaab fundraisers, money launderers with sanctions

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday imposed sanctions on what it said was an international fundraising and money-laundering network for the al Shabaab militant group operating in Somalia. The sanctions targeted 16 entities and individuals across the Horn of Africa region, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, the …

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Cairo Truce Talks Falter as Hamas Stalls

Latest Developments The latest round of Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks ended fruitlessly on March 7, with Hamas failing to provide details on hostages it holds in Gaza. The Palestinian terrorist group recalled its delegation from Cairo after four days of negotiations with Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Unlike previous rounds of talks, …

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From Boko Haram Combatant To Peace Advocate: Chilling Story Of A Female Fighter

A former Boko Haram leader who abandoned a suicide mission shares shocking actions of women as combatants and her journey to redemption. Five young women embarked on a one-way journey from a remote location not far away from the Sambisa forest area, each carrying deadly explosives and two AK-47 rifles …

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Will Egypt accept Palestinian displacement in exchange for debt relief?

Egypt’s stability is crucial for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but now they’re linking financial aid to the mass displacement of Gazans to Sinai, which poses an even greater threat to Cairo’s national security. As Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza escalates, reports continue to swirl about a big Egyptian …

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IntelBrief: Somalia-Türkiye Defense Deal and the Regional Implications for East Africa

Somalia and Türkiye recently agreed to a ten-year defense deal that will see Ankara helping Mogadishu with security cooperation and building the capacity of its naval forces. While both Somalia and Türkiye have said that their agreement was long in the works and unrelated to the January deal between Ethiopia …

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Turkey, Gulf States’ Converging Interests In Horn Of Africa – OpEd

Turkiye last week signed a 10-year defense and economic cooperation agreement with Somalia, which aims to help defend the latter’s long coastline and also rebuild the naval forces of the fragile Horn of Africa nation. The agreement took a great deal of attention, as it came amid growing tensions in …

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Why Egypt and Turkey are ending a decade of tension

On 14 February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met at the Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo. This marked Erdogan’s first visit to Egypt since 2012. The visit was an important watershed in Ankara and Cairo’s rapprochement that gained momentum after the two leaders met …

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Russia And The G5 Sahel Group’s Indivisible Security Relationship – OpEd

In practical terms, the indisputable geopolitical changes and the restructuring of global power architecture have significant impact on Russia’s military influence in Saharan-Sahel region, an elongated landlocked territory located between North Africa (Maghreb) and West Africa, and also stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Almost all West …

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