Author Archives: Bill Ardolino

Egypt

Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the first time in about two months. Several bombings killed one person and injured nine in Alexandria on March 8. A roadside bomb killed three Egyptian soldiers and seriously injured another in the Sinai. Egyptian airstrikes killed 25 suspected jihadists in the Sinai in the […]


Libya

Jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State attacked an oil field in al-Ghani, beheading eight guards and kidnapping nine foreign workers. Pro-government forces conducted airstrikes on the airport in Tripoli, which remains controlled by rival Islamist forces. General Khalifa Haftar was sworn in as the chief of Libya’s army.


Mali

Militants launched a barrage of rockets into the UN base in Kidal, killing three and wounding twelve. An assault team attacked a nightclub in the capital of Bamako with hand grenades and small arms, killing five people and wounding several others. Al Murabitoon has claimed responsibility for the latter attack.


Nigeria

Boko Haram killed scores of civilians when it invaded the village of Njaba and drove through 13 villages along the border with Cameroon as it retreated from a Nigerian Army offensive. Nigerian troops drove the jihadist group from Mafa town in Borno state, Bara in Yobe state and Gulak in Adamawa state during recent operations.



Libya

Islamic State fighters reportedly took over two radio stations in Sirte; the group has also published photos of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in December and January in Sirte. The UN restarted negotiations between the country’s warring parties.


Tunisia

The army shelled terrorist “hideouts” in mounts Salloum and Samama in Kasserine. A Libyan National Army spokesman identified a Tunisian as the leader of Islamic State militants in Tripoli; Tunisia is one of the largest sources of jihadist fighters.


Nigeria

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a market in Biu in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least seven people. Political violence has killed 58 people in the run-up to Nigeria’s elections. A poll by Transparency International ranked the country’s political leadership as the world’s most corrupt.


Chad

Boko Haram conducted its first attack on Chadian territory, killing one soldier and wounding four others before being driven back from the village of Ngouboua. The jihadist group has pushed into Chad, Niger and Cameroon recently in its bid to expand its “caliphate.”


Syria

The Islamic State claims in a propaganda magazine that the widow of the gunman who attacked a Paris supermarket is now in Syria with the group. The US struggles with an “intelligence gap” while trying to track Western foreign fighters; it is believed “more than 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 90 countries have gone […]


Somalia

At least 10 members of Shabaab were killed and scores more injured in a clash with AMISOM forces in Barawe town. The US will be providing 20 MRAPs to African Union peacekeepers in Somalia. A military court executed Ahmed Ismail Ali, “a senior Al Shabaab leader in Gedo region.” The Somali National Army claims to […]


Libya

Libya reopened the Hariga oil port after the end of a strike by security forces. Libyan Special Forces recaptured a key military base in Benghazi from Islamist militias. Islamic State-allied jihadists staged a parade in Noufliya, which is “some 60km from the eastern oil port of Sidra.” Libya is on track to exhaust its wheat […]


Tunisia

Tunisia arrested 32 Islamists for “planning terror attacks against buildings belonging to the country’s Ministry of Interior, security posts and civilian targets.” A general strike was declared at the country’s two main border crossings with Libya in protest of excessive force by police.


Algeria

Algeria announced the founding of a “national monitoring board” to combat religious extremism. Algeria reportedly declined to join the US-led coalition against the Islamic State after requests from the US and France.


Nigeria

The Nigerian National Security Adviser promises that there will not be another election postponement due to security issues. A report states that Boko Haram has gathered fighters to attack again Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.


Syria

The US-led coalition conducted three airstrikes near near Kobani, Deir al-Zor and Raqqa in the past day. Kurdish forces have recaptured more than a third of villages (“128 of some 350”) surrounding Kobane. Jordan has launched 56 airstrikes in retaliation for the death of Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh, the pilot murdered by the Islamic State. The […]


Somalia

Members of Shabaab shot and killed a member of Somalia’s Federal Parliament in Mogadishu. Jihadists attacked a police station in Bossaso in Puntland; at least two of the attackers were killed and three others captured. A land mine targeting Turkish workers in Mogadishu killed one person.


Libya

Pro-government forces launched a new offensive to take Benghazi from Islamist militias; more than 40 people have been killed and dozens injured. The country’s warring parties will resume UN-sponsored peace talks on Feb. 10. A strike by security personnel has closed Libya’s last onshore oil export terminal.


Tunisia

The Interior Ministry announced that it arrested 32 extremists who were plotting spectacular attacks on “civilian and military sites around the country.” Operations to apprehend more suspects remain ongoing in Kasserine, near the Algerian border.


Nigeria

Nigeria is postponing upcoming elections for six weeks to focus on an offensive against Boko Haram. Nigeria, along with Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad have jointly pledged to deploy an additional 8,700 troops in the fight against the jihadist group.


Niger

Nigerien forces repelled attacks by Boko Haram on the border towns of Bosso and Diffa; 109 jihadists and four soldiers were killed, and 17 soldiers were wounded. Shortly afterward, a young boy blew himself up in Diffa’s market, killing five.


Syria

At least eight people were wounded and possibly five killed after the Islam Army, a Syrian rebel group, attacked Damascus with a barrage of rockets and mortar rounds. At least 54 rebels may have been killed after regime troops attacked their positions in the Damascus suburb of Douma, according to Xinhua via Syrian National TV. […]


Somalia

The Somalian government announced that a US drone strike killed Shabaab’s external operations chief last weekend. Suspected jihadists attacked a police station in Bosaso, injuring one and destroying a vehicle. Airstrikes in the Lower Jubba region killed 27 Shabaab fighters, according to local government authorities.


Egypt

An Egyptian court sentenced 230 people, including a prominent activist, to life in prison after their conviction for “rioting, inciting violence and attacking security forces.” One person was killed when unknown assailants firebombed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cairo.


Libya

Gunmen stormed the al-Mabrook oilfield south of Sirte, killing 12 people, including at least three foreigners; jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State are suspected. The UAE sent a second plane load of supplies to aid civilians in Libya. The Libyan Army lost 11 soldiers killed and 25 wounded battling Islamist forces near derma; the jihadists […]


Algeria

The presidents of Algeria and Benin announced that they would ramp up cooperation in counterterrorism operations. Despite political tensions, the Moroccan and Algerian intelligence services are also reported to have remained cooperative.


Mali

French forces killed about a dozen jihadists “in the region of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains” in northern Mali. The UN’s peacekeeping mission is struggling with persistent insecurity and tensions with the civilian populace.


Nigeria

Chadian troops crossed the border into Nigeria and ejected Boko Haram from the town of Gamboru, which the group has held for several months. The Nigerian military claimed the country’s sovereignty remains intact. Nigerian and Chadian warplanes have bombed the jihadist group “out of a slew of northeastern Nigerian towns.” Boko Haram’s pressure on Maiduguri […]


Syria

The Al Nusrah Front claimed responsibility for bombing a bus of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims visiting a Syrian shrine in Damascus on Feb. 1, killing six people. The Western-backed rebel Hazzm movement has reportedly joined the Levantine Front, a coalition of other Syrian rebel groups, in a bid to strengthen itself against Al Nusrah. The Islamic […]


Somalia

Several people were killed in an airstrike targeting Shabaab militants in Dinsoor; the attack is believed to have been a US drone strike and “a top leader” of the jihadist organization is reported to have been killed. “At least three missile strikes from unmanned aircraft” struck a Shabaab training facility in Toratorow village, killing “dozens,” […]