Latest news with #Jihadist
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First Post
02-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Africa: Mali army says at least 80 militants killed after Jihadists attacked military posts
Malian army on Tuesday said that it 'neutralised' more than 80 militants after Jihadist fighters launched coordinated attacks on military posts in several towns across Mali, marking the third major offensive against the army in the past month read more Malian army on Tuesday said that it 'neutralised' more than 80 militants after Jihadist fighters launched coordinated attacks on military posts in several towns across Mali, marking the third major offensive against the army in the past month. According to a BBC report, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, claimed responsibility for the attacks and said it had seized control of three army barracks. However, Malian army said the enemy suffered significant losses in every location they attacked. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The enemy suffered significant losses in every location where they engaged with the security and defence forces,' BBC quoted Army Spokesperson Souleymane Dembele as saying in a statement broadcast on national TV. Col Dembele added that the army recovered weapons, vehicles and motorcycles from the assailants. Mali has been gripped by a deadly Islamist insurgency for over a decade, alongside ongoing violence from separatist groups. Earlier, the military reported that the attacks took place in seven towns and cities, including Binoli, Kayes, and Sandere, near the Senegalese border. Additional assaults were reported further north, close to Mali's border with Mauritania. A resident of Kayes told the BBC that gunfire could be heard 'everywhere' during the assault. 'The police station was damaged, as well as the governor's house,' he was quoted as saying, adding that casualty figures were still unclear. JNIM described its latest assault as 'coordinated and high quality' in a social media statement, though it provided no casualty figures. The group also claimed responsibility for two other major recent attacks. On 2 June, militants struck an army camp and airport in the northern city of Timbuktu. The day before, a raid in central Mali killed at least 30 soldiers. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD These incidents underscore the escalating insecurity in Mali and the wider Sahel, following a warning from US Africa Command about Islamist militant groups intensifying efforts to reach West Africa's coastal regions. With inputs from agencies
Memri
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Africa's 'Second' World War Is Not Winding Down Anytime Soon
The First and Second Congo Wars, waged between 1996 and 1997 and then 1998 and 2003 were so bloody and far-reaching that they drew in the armed forces of at least eight separate African countries plus many rebel groups. They have been dubbed "Africa's World War" because of the number of regional belligerents and the sheer destructiveness of the conflict. Millions died and millions more were displaced and made destitute. But despite the carnage, this was a war contained and fought within the boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); the foreign armies were not fighting each other elsewhere. There is another world war waging in Africa today, not quite as bloody as the Second Congo War but much more widespread, raging from Mali in West Africa to Mozambique in Southern Africa. This is the war being waged by Salafi Jihadist terror groups in at least seven main fronts – Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, DRC, Somalia, and Mozambique. This Jihadist war has so far also spilled over into terrorist attacks in at least eight other countries – Benin, Togo, Chad, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. A second brutal African conflict, in Sudan, is the world's worst humanitarian crisis and threatens to spread to neighboring states. It is not a Jihadist insurgency but rather a civil war between rival branches of the security forces, former allies turned bitter adversaries and supported by different regional powers. The Jihadist Second World War has foreign roots. Most of the Jihadist insurgents have sworn public loyalty to foreign Arab Muslim entities, to either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Two of the principal leaders of the Jihadist insurgency in West Africa, JNIM's Iyad Ag Ghaly and Amadou Koufa, were "radicalized" by foreigners, reportedly by itinerant Pakistani Tablighi Jamaat preachers. When I worked in the State Department a decade ago, Niger's interior minister told me about the problem of foreign preachers, flush with Qatari or Saudi money, appearing and telling Africans that "your Islam, the one you have practiced for the past thousand years, is all wrong." But despite the foreign connections, these Jihadist wars are nothing if not local, relying on local realities and grievances, following local fissures. These insurgencies build upon not only criminal networks – smugglers, cattle rustlers, illicit gold miners, and bandits – but also tribal and ethnic connections. In West Africa, the wars often follow the paths forged by Fulani (or Fula) pastoralists, peoples already in conflict with farmers (Christian, Muslim, and animist) and governments. Fulani are found from Senegal in West Africa to Sudan in East Africa and form important populations in a dozen countries, including some of the worst hit by Jihadist violence: Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Also "local" is the reality that in many of these countries rival Jihadist groups – usually Al-Qaeda-aligned versus Islamic State-aligned – continue to fight each other in a bloody, continuing situation that actually somewhat blunts these groups' effectiveness against the state. Islamic State official propaganda boasting of attacks on the "Al-Qaeda militia" But while the conflict is similar from West Africa to East and South, with Jihadist insurgents challenging government security forces and targeting civilian populations, not all of these conflicts are the same. All are dangerous, all are challenges to the state, all are aggressive and ambitious and try to spread, but not all of them have the same prospects for long-term success. Of the seven main fronts I have mentioned, the Jihadists are mostly contained in specific regions in three countries – Niger, DRC, and Mozambique. Muslims, from where the insurgents draw their recruits, are a small percentage of the population in the DRC and only slightly larger in Mozambique. And while Niger is a Muslim majority country (98 percent), the Jihadist insurgency so far is limited to the country's far southwest (both Al-Qaeda and Islamic State branches) and far southeast (Boko Haram). It is in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Somalia that the core Jihadist insurgency is most potent and dangerous. No one expects that Boko Haram (or the larger phenomenon of Fulani herders/terrorists preying on mostly Christian farmers) will ever overthrow the state in Nigeria, but the insurgency, instability, and violence that is generated can certainly help to destabilize Africa's most populous country. In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Somalia, the goal is definitely to overthrow the state and that possibility cannot be discounted. Al-Shabab in Somalia has made something of a resurgence in recent years, controls considerable territory and dreams of becoming a force again inside the country's capital. That is not impossible but probably unlikely as the Somali National Army is backed up by African Union (AU) Forces, Turkey, and American drone strikes. So, then Mali and Burkina Faso present the most tempting, promising targets for Jihadist victory where it is conceivable that they could – at least temporarily – be able to seize the state and take its capital. The security situation has been palpably deteriorating in both countries in recent months. Mali, where Jihadists compete with each other, with Tuareg nationalists and with the Russian-backed regime in Bamako, may be too complicated, too difficult of an objective. Burkina Faso looks much more at risk, with about half of the countryside already dominated by Jihadists. It is already the "most terrorist-affected country in the world," a dubious distinction, according to the 2024 Global Terrorism Index. A quarter of all deaths caused by terrorists worldwide were in Burkina Faso. "Sheikh Mujahid" Iyad Ag Ghaly as seen in JNIM's official propaganda outlet Az-Zallaqa. Here it is JNIM, the local al-Qaeda branch, that is most likely to succeed. Jima'a Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (the "Support Group for Islam and Muslims," JNIM) is currently by far the most capable, best-armed, and best-led of all of the rival Jihadist groups in Africa (Al-Shabab and Boko Haram would come second). The group's leaders, the wily veteran Tuareg tribal aristocrat Iyad Ag Ghaly and deputy commander Amadou Koufa, a charismatic ethnic Fulani preacher, were both denounced by the Islamic State as "apostates" for their political flexibility. This seeming pragmatism (and willingness to talk to "unbeliever" media and regimes) is as dangerous as their use of violence. JNIM represents a strategic evolution away from the brutal Algerian dominated days of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to a broader and looser African alliance, currently led by Malians. The 64-year-old Fulani preacher and JNIM deputy Amadou Koufa Led by Ag Ghaly, dubbed "the strategist," JNIM even avoids using the name of Al-Qaeda. "Support Group [Nusra Group] for Islam and the Muslims" harkens to the original name of what became Syria's new Islamist rulers – the Nusra Front (later called Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham, (HTS)). Like Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani's Syrian organization, JNIM seems increasingly distant from Al-Qaeda. Inspired by the Qatari-supported examples of the "independent" Jihadist Taliban in Afghanistan and HTS in Syria – different (more national than regional) organizations and very different situations on the ground – JNIM seeks to follow its own ambitious regional path to power. On the surface, it still seems very implausible that JNIM could actually take landlocked Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, a city of over two million people. Yet the inhabitants of Kabul, Mosul, Raqqa, and Damascus once thought the same thing. However, JNIM does not even need to take the city but rather isolate it from the surrounding countryside. And it would be far more difficult to administer such a large urban population than to seize it. Much will depend on the ability of the beleaguered government of Burkina Faso to retake and hold territory lost to JNIM. Burkina Faso's interim president 37-year-old Ibrahim Traore faces a major security challenge The group could also bypass the city and country altogether in its remorseless southern march to the sea and toward the threatened Christian-majority cities and countries on the coast of West Africa. The JNIM-controlled rural regions of Burkina Faso already function as a kind of hub or safe haven for strikes into Benin, Togo, and other littoral states. JNIM's extensive use of swarms of fighters on motorcycles, in addition to the ubiquitous Toyota Hilux, gives them great mobility. Regardless of JNIM's immediate successes or failures in the coming months, the larger phenomenon of Jihadist pressure against fragile or failed states across a vast swathe of Africa will continue. *Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
Daily Mirror
26-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
'I saw hotel terror attack aftermath firsthand - bravery shone amid bloodshed'
The sunbeds were still spattered with blood on Sousse beach when we arrived to witness the aftermath of the attack. There were paperbacks strewn across the sand where victims fell as a Jihadist gunman pulled out his Kalashnikov. Extremist Seifeddine Rezgui, a 22-year-old electrical engineering student, had massacred 38 tourists 10 years ago today in an attack on a beach outside the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba hotel complex. Sunglasses and sun cream had been left among the personal belongings dropped by tourists fleeing for their lives. Amid the carnage, there was extraordinary bravery. Eyewitnesses told how hotel staff and sunbathers formed a 'human shield' around Brits and foreign tourists in a desperate bid to save them. A bar manager at the Belle Vue hotel, next door to the Imperial Marhaba, told how ordinary Tunisian people had tried to save people in the line of fire. The man, who would give his name only as Houssem, added: 'I was shouting at people 'run, run'. The gunman was laughing as he was shooting, when he had finished and he had killed everyone, he did not care, he did not try to run. 'He threw a mobile phone into the sea, he took it apart, then he came up here step by step and he was smiling, he was happy about what he wanted to do. Everyone was scared, but we did everything we could to stop him.' Brit John Yeoman, from Kettering, posted a photo of Belle Vue staff forming a human shield. He said: "Staff were in a line and they were shouting at him, saying 'we won't let you through'. They shouted: 'You'll have to go through us'. That's why he's got his back turned to them. He tried to get to my hotel and they stood up to him." Young and old, parents and grandparents, a beautician, a nurse, a council worker were all slain by the laughing gunman. Yet Rezgui's family claimed he was a football-loving, typical teenager before he was radicalised on-line by IS, and groomed for murder. His uncle revealed: "We didn't know where he was going, and there were no goodbyes. The entire family is shocked at the hidden reality of what he was capable of." But the killer posted before the massacre: "If love of jihad is a crime the whole world can witness that I am a criminal."
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Amid Iran-Israel war, Pakistan fears Baloch militants rise; Asim Munir raises alarm with Donald Trump
Islamabad has expressed concerns about anti-Pakistan outfits on the border between Iran and Pakistan amid fears of the Iranian regime being destabilised during its escalating conflict with Israel, reported news agency Reuters. Follow LIVE updates on the Israel-Iran conflict here During a meeting between Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the former reportedly indicated that the country was worried about separatist and Jihadist elements on the Pakistan-Iran border taking advantage of the conflict with Israel. Anti-Iranian and anti-Pakistan outfits operate on both sides of the 900-km-long border. Israel, during its military campaign, has indicated that they are seeking to ensure the collapse of the Iranian government. Pakistan has condemned Israel's attack on Iran as a violation of international law. Also Read: Donald Trump steps back from taking credit for India-Pakistan ceasefire: 'Two very smart leaders decided' Jaish al-Adl (JaA), an Iranian jihadist group formed from ethnic Baloch and Sunni Muslim minorities and which operates from Pakistan, said Israel's conflict with Iran was a great opportunity. 'Jaish al-Adl extends the hand of brotherhood and friendship to all the people of Iran and calls on all people, especially the people of Baluchistan, as well as the armed forces, to join the ranks of the Resistance,' the group said in a statement on June 13. Pakistan also fears that separatist militants from its own Baloch minority, which are based in Iran, will seek to escalate attacks. 'There's a fear of ungoverned spaces, which would be fertile ground for terrorist groups,' Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington to Reuters. Also Read: Shashi Tharoor's message to US as Donald Trump hosts Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir at White House Simbal Khan, an analyst based in Islamabad, said the different Baloch groups could morph into a 'greater Balochistan' movement which seeks to carve out a new nation from the Baloch areas of Pakistan and Iran. 'They're all going to fight together if this blows up,' said Khan. Further, Pakistan is also concerned about the precedent set by Israel in attacking nuclear establishments in Iran, a month after India and Pakistan also engaged in a four-day conflict following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam attack, reported Reuters. After his meeting on Wednesday with Asim Munir, Trump said about Pakistan's views on the Israel-Iran conflict, 'They're not happy about anything.' Pakistan's military said on Thursday that they had discussed Iran with the US, "with both leaders emphasising the importance of resolution of the conflict'. 'This is for us a very serious issue, what is happening in our brotherly country of Iran. It imperils the entire regional security structures, it impacts us deeply,' Shafqat Ali Khan, spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday. '
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
India defends Operation Sindoor at UN, slams Pakistan's ‘Theatre of deception' over Pahalgam terror attack
NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday forcefully defended its military action under Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 Indian tourists, accusing Pakistan of harboring terrorists and attempting to distort the narrative at the United Nations. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Kshitij Tyagi, Counsellor at India's Permanent Mission, said, 'When a state harbours terrorists who massacre innocents, defensive action is not just a right, it is a solemn duty.' Tyagi condemned Pakistan's attempt to 'mischaracterise' the retaliatory strikes, saying the world is not fooled by its "theatre of deception." He pointedly referred to the barbaric execution of 26 Indian tourists in Jammu and Kashmir 's Pahalgam, allegedly by Pakistani terrorists, which triggered India's cross-border military response on May 7. 'The UN Security Council rightly condemned this act of terrorism and called for all perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors to be held accountable. And we all know that those sponsors operate from Pakistani soil,' Tyagi said. India's four-day military campaign under Operation Sindoor targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled territories, ending on May 10 after an understanding was reached to halt military actions. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Tyagi also took aim at Pakistan's history of glorifying terrorists, saying: 'From hosting Osama bin Laden in its military cantonment to conducting state funerals for globally sanctioned terrorists, Pakistan never fails to disappoint. It claims victimhood while remaining the acknowledged epicenter of Jihadist terror.' He dismissed Pakistan's statements at the UNHRC as an attempt to invert the roles of victim and perpetrator: 'Pakistan chose to spend almost its entire speaking time not addressing the global human rights review, but obsessively targeting India with a tired, fabricated narrative.' Tyagi further justified India's decision to put the Indus Water Treaty into abeyance, calling it a response not only to terrorism but also to evolving climate, energy, and strategic imperatives. 'When a nation violates the foundation of a Treaty, it forfeits the right to invoke its protections. A nation cannot serve terror and expect to reap sympathy.' He concluded by reaffirming India's resolve: 'India will continue to act with responsibility and resolve to protect its citizens, its sovereignty, and its values, as any nation must.'
