Latest news with #Al-Qaeda-linked
First Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Deadly Attack Highlights Growing Instability in Burkina Faso & the Sahel
Deadly Attack Highlights Growing Instability in Burkina Faso & the Sahel |Vantage with Palki Sharma Burkina Faso faces escalating violence as an armed group, suspected to be the Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM, stormed a military base killing around 50 soldiers. This attack underscores the broader security collapse across the Sahel region, where Islamist insurgencies exploit political instability and control over valuable resources. With militant groups vying for power and access to the coast, governments struggle to contain the worsening crisis. See More
The Sun
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Peacekeepers clash with Al-Shabaab over strategic Somali town
MOGADISHU: International peacekeepers are engaged in fierce clashes with Al-Shabaab militants in a bid to reclaim the strategic town of Bariire, the African Union mission in Somalia confirmed on Sunday. The Al-Qaeda-linked group has seized multiple towns since early 2024, reversing gains made by Somali forces in previous years. The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) launched a major offensive on Friday to retake Bariire, located approximately 100 kilometres west of Mogadishu. The town, home to a critical military base, fell to Al-Shabaab in March after Somali troops withdrew, allowing militants to destroy a vital supply route bridge. AUSSOM refuted Al-Shabaab's claims of heavy army casualties, stating instead that '50 Al Shabaab militants were killed and many others sustained serious injuries' in recent fighting. Despite deploying over 10,000 troops, the peacekeeping mission has struggled against Al-Shabaab's resurgence, which has included deadly attacks on Ugandan soldiers and an attempted strike on Somalia's president in March. – AFP
Al-Ahram Weekly
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
UN experts: IS and Al-Qaeda expanding in Africa, growing threat in Syria - Region
The threat from Islamic State and Al-Qaeda extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a 'a strategic base for external operations,' U.N. experts said in a new report. Their report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Wednesday said West Africa's Al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, known as JNIM, and East Africa's Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab have continued to increase the territory under their control. The experts monitoring sanctions against the two groups said 'the organization's pivot towards parts of Africa continued" partly because of Islamic State losses in the Middle East due to counterterrorism pressures. There are also 'increasing concerns about foreign terrorist fighters returning to Central Asia and Afghanistan, aiming to undermine regional security,' they said. The Islamic State also continues to represent 'the most significant threat' to Europe and the Americas, the experts said, often by individuals radicalized via social media and encrypted messaging platforms by its Afghanistan-based Khorasan group. In the United States, the experts said several alleged terrorist attack plots were 'largely motivated by the Gaza and Israel conflict,' or by individuals radicalized by IS, also known as ISIL. They pointed to an American who pledged support to IS and drove into a crowd in New Orleans on Jan. 1, killing 14 people in the deadliest attack by Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State in the U.S. since 2016. In addition, they said, 'Authorities disrupted attacks, including an ISIL-inspired plot to conduct a mass shooting at a military base in Michigan,' and the IS Khorasan affiliate issued warnings of plots targeting Americans. In Africa's Sahel region, the experts said, JNIM expanded its area of operations, operating 'with relative freedom' in northern Mali and most of Burkina Faso. There was also a resurgence of activity by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, 'particularly along the Niger and Nigeria border, where the group was seeking to entrench itself.' 'JNIM reached a new level of operational capability to conduct complex attacks with drones, improvised explosive devices and large numbers of fighters against well-defended barracks,' the experts said. In East Africa, they said, 'al-Shabab maintained its resilience, intensifying operations in southern and central Somalia' and continuing its ties with Yemen's Houthi rebels. The two groups have reportedly exchanged weapons and the Houthis have trained al-Shabab fighters, they said. Syria, the experts said, remains 'in a volatile and precarious phase,' six months after the ouster of President Bashar Assad, with unnamed countries warning of growing risks posed by both IS and Al-Qaeda. 'Member states estimated that more than 5,000 foreign terrorist fighters were involved in the military operation in which Damascus was taken on Dec. 8,' the experts' 27-page report said. Syria's new interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa led the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, once an Al-Qaeda affiliate that later split from it. He has promised that the country will transition to a system that includes Syria's mosaic of religious and ethnic groups under fair elections, but skeptics question whether that will actually happen. The experts expressed concern at the Syrian military's announcement of several senior appointments including 'prominent Syrian armed faction leaders' and six positions for foreigners — three with the rank of brigadier general and three with the rank of colonel. 'The ideological affiliation of many of these individuals was unknown, although several were likely to hold violent extremist views and external ambitions," the report said. As for financing, the experts said the HTS takeover in Syria was considered to pose financial problems for the Islamic State and likely to lead to a decline in its revenues. Salaries for Islamic State fighters were reduced to $50-$70 per month and $35 per family, 'lower than ever, and not paid regularly, suggesting financial difficulties,' said the experts, who did not give previous salaries or family payments. They said both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State vary methods to obtain money according to locations and their ability to exploit resources, tax local communities, kidnap for ransom and exploit businesses. While the extremist groups predominantly move money through cash transfers and informal money transfer systems known as hawalas, the experts said the Islamic State has increasingly used female couriers and hawala systems where data is stored in the cloud to avoid detection, and 'safe drop boxes' where money is deposited at exchange offices and can only be retrieved with a password or code. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
27-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Key Somalia town of Maxaas falls to Al-Shabaab - Africa
Islamist militants took control of the strategic town of Maxaas in central Somalia on Sunday after heavy fighting with the army and local militias, military sources said. The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab has taken dozens of towns and villages since launching an offensive early this year, reversing almost all of the gains made by the government in its own military campaign in 2022 and 2023. In a statement, Al-Shabaab said it had taken the town of Maxaas, around 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the capital Mogadishu, which is considered a strategic hub for transport and logistics in the central region. Members of the Somali National Army confirmed the fall of Maxaas, though claimed it was a "tactical retreat". Mohamed Dahir, an army commander in the area, told AFP that Al-Shabaab had attacked with "car bombs and hundreds of heavily armed" fighters early on Sunday. "The brave members of the Somali army and the local community militias fought them fiercely outside town before making a tactical retreat to pre-established defensive positions outside town," he said by phone. Maxaas had been held by Ethiopian troops, part of the African Union's security force, until they handed over the military base to the Somali National Army in August 2024. The government had also relied on the support of local militias opposed to Al-Shabaab. "Al-Shabab militants managed to enter the town after heavy fighting this morning," Ali Hayo, a local militia fighter told AFP by phone, speaking from a nearby location. "There is still sporadic gunfire outside town, but I can confirm that the terrorists are now controlling Maxaas. "The fighting is not over, we are still close to the town, and we are expecting to engage in counteroffensives," he said. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Eyewitness News
27-07-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Key Somalia town of Maxaas falls to Al-Shabaab
MOGADISHU - Islamist militants took control of the strategic town of Maxaas in central Somalia on Sunday after heavy fighting with the army and local militias, military sources said. The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab has taken dozens of towns and villages since launching an offensive early this year, reversing almost all of the gains made by the government in its own military campaign in 2022 and 2023. In a statement, Al-Shabaab said it had taken the town of Maxaas, around 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the capital Mogadishu, which is considered a strategic hub for transport and logistics in the central region. Members of the Somali National Army confirmed the fall of Maxaas, though claimed it was a "tactical retreat". Mohamed Dahir, an army commander in the area, told AFP that Al-Shabaab had attacked with "car bombs and hundreds of heavily armed" fighters early on Sunday. "The brave members of the Somali army and the local community militias fought them fiercely outside town before making a tactical retreat to pre-established defensive positions outside town," he said by phone. Maxaas had been held by Ethiopian troops, part of the African Union's security force, until they handed over the military base to the Somali National Army in August 2024. The government had also relied on the support of local militias opposed to Al-Shabaab. "Al-Shabab militants managed to enter the town after heavy fighting this morning," Ali Hayo, a local militia fighter told AFP by phone, speaking from a nearby location. "There is still sporadic gunfire outside town, but I can confirm that the terrorists are now controlling Maxaas. "The fighting is not over, we are still close to the town, and we are expecting to engage in counteroffensives," he said.
