# Terrorism in Africa

Terrorism in Africa includes terrorist attacks made by jihadists and other ideological groups.
The African continent has been affected by significant terrorist activity across the continent, involving various terrorist groups responsible for widespread violence and instability. In East Africa, Salafi jihadist group Al-Shabaab has been a central figure in conflicts, particularly in Somalia and Kenya. North and West Africa have seen major incidents tied to salafi jihadist groups like Boko Haram, which has caused severe disruptions in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco have experienced deadly attacks linked to terrorist networks. These activities have led to extensive casualties and displacement across the region. Civilians have been the main targets of terrorist attacks.
French political scientist Gilles Kepel also identified a specific Salafist form of jihadism in the 1990s. The original use of the term "jihadist Salafists", also spelled "Salafi-jihadi" or "Salafist jihadis".
The largest Salafi jihadist terrorist operation is considered to be the September 11 attacks against the United States perpetrated by al-Qaeda in 2001.

## Salafi jihadism in Africa

According to political scientist Gilles Kepel, Salafi jihadism combined "respect for the sacred texts in their most literal form, ... with an absolute commitment to jihad, whose number-one target had to be America, perceived as the greatest enemy of the faith." The Egyptian islamic movements of 1950s are generally considered to be the precursors of contemporary Salafi-Jihadist movements. The theological doctrines of the Syrian-Egyptian Islamic scholar Sayyid Rashid Rida (1865–1935 CE) greatly influenced these movements.
Rida's ideas would set the foundations of future Salafi-Jihadist movements and greatly influence Islamists like Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and other Islamic fundamentalist figures. Rida's treatises laid the theological framework of future militants who would eventually establish the Salafi-Jihadi movement.
In the 1990s, Salafi jihadists of the al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya were active in the terrorist attacks on police, government officials, and foreign tourists in Egypt, and the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria was a principal extremist group in the Algerian Civil War. In Afghanistan, the Taliban were adherents of the Deobandi, not the Salafi school of Islam, but they closely co-operated with bin Laden and various Salafi-jihadist leaders.

### Ideologists of Salafi jihadism

Leaders"Theoreticians" of Salafist jihadism included Afghan jihad veterans such as the Palestinian Abu Qatada, the Syrian Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, the Egyptian Mustapha Kamel, known as Abu Hamza al-Masri. Osama bin Laden was its most well-known leader. The dissident Saudi preachers Salman al-Ouda and Safar Al-Hawali, were held in high esteem by this school. Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri would praise Sayyid Qutb, stating that Qutb's call formed the ideological inspiration for the contemporary Salafi-Jihadist movement. Other leading figures in the movement include Anwar al-Awlaki, former leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP); Abu Bakar Bashir, leader of the banned Indonesian militant group (Jema'ah Islamiyah); Nasir al-Fahd, Saudi Arabian Salafi-Jihadist scholar who opposes the Saudi state, and reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS; Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of the Nigerian Boko Haram; Omar Bakri Muhammad, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant; etc.

### Expansion of Salafi jihadism

Gilles Kepel writes that the Salafis whom he encountered in Europe in the 1980s, were "totally apolitical". However, by the mid-1990s, he met some who felt jihad in the form of "violence and terrorism" was "justified to realize their political objectives". The mingling of many Salafists who were alienated from mainstream European society with violent jihadists created "a volatile mixture". According to Bruce Livesey Salafist jihadists are currently a "burgeoning presence in Europe, having attempted more than 30 terrorist attacks among EU countries" from September 2001 to the beginning of 2005".
In his research, Seth Jones of the Rand Corporation finds that Salafi-jihadist numbers and activity have increased from 2007 to 2013. According to his research:
* the number of Salafi jihadist groups increased by over 50% from 2010 to 2013, using Libya and parts of Syria as sanctuary.
* the number of Salafi jihadist fighters "more than doubled from 2010 to 2013" using both low and high estimates. The war in Syria was the single most important attraction for Salafi-jihadist fighters.
* attacks by al-Qaeda–affiliated groups (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al Shabaab, Jabhat al-Nusrah, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula)
* despite al-Qaeda's traditional focus on the "far enemy" (US and Europe), approximately 99% of the attacks by al-Qaeda and its affiliates in 2013 were against "near enemy" targets (in North Africa, the Middle East, and other regions outside of the West).Murad al-Shishani of The Jamestown Foundation states there have been 3 generations of Salafi-jihadists: those waging jihad in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq. As of the mid-2000s, Arab fighters in Iraq were "the latest and most important development of the global Salafi-jihadi movement". These fighters were usually not Iraqis, but volunteers who had come to Iraq from other countries, mainly Saudi Arabia. Unlike in earlier Salafi jihadi actions, Egyptians "are no longer the chief ethnic group".

### Salafi jihadist groups

Salafist jihadist groups include Al Qaeda, Salafia Jihadia the now defunct Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and the Egyptian group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya which still exists.

#### Salafia Jihadia

Salafia Jihadia is a Salafi Jihadist terrorist group based in Morocco and Spain. The group was allied with al-Qaeda and Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM).
The group was known for its participation in the 2003 Casablanca bombings, in which 12 suicide bombers killed 33 people and injured over 100. Salafia Jihadia has variously been described as a movement or loose network of groups, or as a generic term applied by Moroccan authorities for militant Salafi activists.
Salafia Jihadia is said to function as a network of several loosely affiliated Salafi jihadist groups and cells, including groups such as al Hijra Wattakfir, Attakfir Bidum Hijra, Assirat al Mustaqim, Ansar al Islam and Moroccan Afghans. The spiritual leader and founder of the group is Mohammed Fizazi [fr; de], former imam of the al-Quds Mosque (which was shut down by German authorities in 2010). Fizazi was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for his radical statements and connection to the Casablanca bombings. Salafia Jihadia has since spawned a wider ideological movement out of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.
Al-Shabaab
Al-Shabaab is a transnational Salafi Jihadist military and political organization based in Somalia and active elsewhere in East Africa. It is actively involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War as an Islamist group, regularly invoking takfir to rationalize its terrorist attacks on Somali civilians and government forces. Allied to the militant pan-Islamist organization al-Qaeda since 2012, it has also forged ties with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Formed in the mid-2000s as a youth militia within the wider military wing of the Islamic Courts Union, al-Shabaab came to prominence during the 2006–2009 Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia, during which it presented itself as a vehicle for the waging of armed resistance against the occupying Ethiopian army. In subsequent years, it gained popular support from Somalis and became a dominant force in south and central Somalia, defending large swathes of territory by fighting against the African Union

#### Gamaa Islamiyya

Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, (the Islamic Group) another Salafist-jihadi movement fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government from 1992 to 1998 during which at least 800 Egyptian policemen and soldiers, jihadists, and civilians were killed. Outside of Egypt it is best known for a November 1997 attack at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor where fifty-eight foreign tourists trapped inside the temple were hunted down and hacked and shot to death. The group declared a ceasefire in March 1999, although as of 2012 it is still active in jihad against the Ba'athist Syrian regime.

#### Al-Qaeda

Perhaps the most famous and effective Salafist jihadist group was Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda evolved from the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK), or the "Services Office", a Muslim organization founded in 1984 to raise and channel funds and recruit foreign mujahideen for the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. It was established in Peshawar, Pakistan, by Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.

#### Salafia Jihadia in the Sinai

Salafia Jihadia in the Sinai was established in 2012 by Mohammed al-Zawahiri, it was created in order to fight Egyptian Security Forces and Israeli forces in the Sinai and Gaza Strip.
The group, and many other groups in the Sinai Peninsula, has ties with Al-Qaeda, and was one of the many groups who committed terrorist attacks on civilians and Egyptian Armed Forces during many periods of terrorist attacks in the Sinai in 2012 through 2013.

#### Dawla Islamiyya (ISIS)

In Syria and Iraq both Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS have been described as Salafist-jihadist. Originating in the Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004, the organization (primarily under the Islamic State of Iraq name) affiliated itself with al-Qaeda in Iraq and fought alongside them during the 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency. The group later changed their name to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant for about a year, before declaring itself to be a worldwide caliphate, called simply the Islamic State. They are a transnational Salafi jihadist group and an unrecognised quasi-state. IS gained global prominence in 2014, when their militants conquered large territories in northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, taking advantage of the ongoing civil war in Syria and the disintegrating local military forces of Iraq. By the end of 2015, their self-declared caliphate ruled an area with a population of about 12 million, where they enforced their extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding US$1 billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters. After a grinding conflict with American, Iraqi, and Kurdish forces, IS lost control of all their Middle Eastern territories by 2019, subsequently reverting to insurgency from remote hideouts while continuing their propaganda efforts. These efforts have garnered a significant following in northern and Sahelian Africa, where IS still controls a significant territory, and the war against the Islamic State continues.

#### Jabhat al-Nusra

Jabhat al-Nusra has been described as possessing "a hard-line Salafi-Jihadist ideology" and being one of "the most effective" groups fighting the regime. Writing after ISIS victories in Iraq, Hassan Hassan believes ISIS is a reflection of "ideological shakeup of Sunni Islam's traditional Salafism" since the Arab Spring, where salafism, "traditionally inward-looking and loyal to the political establishment", has "steadily, if slowly", been eroded by Salafism-jihadism.

#### Boko Haram

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a Salafi jihadist group that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 2.3 million from their homes.

#### Jund Ansar-Allah

Jund Ansar Allah is, or was, an armed Salafist jihadist organization in the Gaza Strip. On August 14, 2009, the group's spiritual leader, Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa, announced during Friday sermon the establishment of an Islamic emirate in the Palestinian territories attacking the ruling authority, the Islamist group Hamas, for failing to enforce Sharia law. Hamas forces responded to his sermon by surrounding his Ibn Taymiyyah mosque complex and attacking it. In the fighting that ensued, 24 people (including Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa himself) were killed and over 130 were wounded.

#### Other Salafi terrorist groups

According to Mohammed M. Hafez, "as of 2006 the two major groups within the jihadi Salafi camp" in Iraq were the Mujahidin Shura Council and the Ansar al Sunna Group. There are also a number of small jihadist Salafist groups in Azerbaijan.
In 2011, Salafist jihadists were actively involved with protests against King Abdullah II of Jordan, and the kidnapping and killing of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

## Terrorism by countries and regions
### Egypt

Terrorism in Egypt in the 20th and 21st centuries has targeted the Egyptian government officials, Egyptian police and Egyptian army members, tourists, Sufi Mosques and the Christian minority. Many attacks have been linked to Islamic extremism, and terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Salafi jihadist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya targeted high-level political leaders and killed hundreds – including civilians – in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law in Egypt.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor and leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad group, was believed to be behind the operations of al-Qaeda. As of 2015, four of 30 people on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation "most wanted" terrorist list are Egyptian.

### Burkina Faso

Terrorism in Burkina Faso refers to non-state actor violence in Burkina Faso carried out with the intent of causing fear and spreading extremist ideology. Terrorist activity primarily involves religious terrorism conducted by foreign-based organizations, although some activity occurs because of communal frustration over the lack of economic development. Recent attacks have concentrated in the Hauts-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel, and Est regions, along the border with Mali and Niger. A series of attacks in Ouagadougou in 2016, 2017, and 2018 by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates garnered international attention.
Counter-terrorism efforts by Burkina Faso include domestic and regional security efforts, preventing terrorism-related economic transactions, and cooperating with the West, often through partnerships like the G5 Sahel and Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. Security force violence and alleged human rights abuses have regularly undermined these efforts. In response to the growing attacks, the government declared a state of emergency in December 2018 in several northern provinces. The failure of the government to stem terrorist attacks led to the 2019 resignation of former Prime Minister Paul Thieba. Overall, terrorism has had a significant impact in Burkina Faso, displacing more than 100,000 people and diminishing access to public services.

### Sahel

The Sahel region of Africa has become the global epicenter of terrorism, accounting for over half of all terrorism-related deaths, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). In 2023, the region recorded 3,885 fatalities out of a global total of 7,555, marking a nearly tenfold increase since 2019. The surge in extremist violence is attributed to the expansion of groups like the Islamic State's affiliate in the Sahel and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), who compete for land and influence while imposing strict Sharia-based governance. Political instability, weak governance, and the rise of military juntas following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger have further fueled the insurgency. These groups sustain their operations through ransom kidnappings, illicit gold mining, and drug trafficking, with the Sahel now a major route for cocaine smuggling from South America to Europe. Meanwhile, governments in the region have shifted their alliances from Western nations to Russia and China, relying on paramilitary groups like the Africa Corps (formerly Wagner) for security assistance, though with limited success. The violence is increasingly spilling into neighboring countries such as Togo and Benin, raising concerns about the broader destabilization of West Africa.

## List of Salafi jihadist groups

According to Seth G. Jones at the RAND Corporation, as of 2014, there were around 50 Salafist-jihadist groups in existence or recently in existence ("present" in the list indicates a group's continued existence as of 2014). (Jones defines Salafi-jihadist groups as those groups which emphasize the importance of returning to a "pure" form of Islam, the form of Islam which was practiced by the Salaf, the pious ancestors; and those groups which believe that violent jihad is fard 'ayn (a personal religious duty).
Salafist-jihadist groups in Africa as of 2014 :
| Name of group | Base of operations | Years |
| Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) | Somalia, Ethiopia | 1994–2002 |
| Al-Qaeda (core) | Pakistan, Africa | 1988–present |
| al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM, formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC) | Algeria | 1998–present |
| Al Takfir wal al-Hijrah | Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) | 2011–present |
| Al-Mulathamun (Mokhtar Belmokhtar) | Mali, Libya, Algeria | 2012–2013 |
| Al-Murabitun (Mokhtar Belmokhtar) | Mali, Libya, Algeria | 2013–2017 |
| Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia- Union of Islamic Courts (ARS/UIC) | Somalia, Eritrea | 2006–2009 |
| Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt) | Egypt | 2012–present |
| Ansar al-Sharia (Libya) | Libya | 2012–2017 |
| Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) | Mali | 2012–present |
| Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia) | Tunisia | 2011–present |
| Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (a.k.a. Ansar Jerusalem) | Gaza Strip, Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) | 2012–present |
| Ansaru | Nigeria | 2012–present |
| Boko Haram | Nigeria | 2003–present |
| Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) | Egypt | 1978–2001 |
| Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen | Somalia | 2002–present |
| Harakat al-Shuada'a al Islamiyah (a.k.a. Islamic Martyr's Movement, IMM) | Libya | 1996–2007 |
| Harakat Ansar al-Din | Mali | 2011–2017 |
| Hizbul al Islam | Somalia | 2009–2010 |
| Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) | Iraq, Syria | 2004–present |
| Jaish al-Islam (a.k.a. Tawhid and Jihad Brigades) | Gaza Strip, Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) | 2005–present |
| Jamaat Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis | Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) | 2011–present |
| Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) | Libya | 1990–present |
| Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) | Morocco, Western Europe | 1998–present |
| Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) | Mali | 2011–2013 |
| Muhammad Jamal Network (MJN) | Egypt | 2011–present |
| Mujahideen Shura Council | Gaza Strip, Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) | 2011–present |
| Salafia Jihadia (As-Sirat al Moustaquim) | Morocco | 1995–present |
| Tunisian Combat Group (TCG) | Tunisia, Western Europe | 2000–2011 |