The ending stages of Afghan War gave birth to jobless aggressive veteran guerrilla fighters who have nothing to do after the globally-labelled Holy War. Many of them moved to different places, crossed borders and started new lives either in the same fashion or entirely changing it.
Some of the hardcore fighters declared global jihad in order to nullify the existing threats to Islam and its identity. The then termed Holy Warriors thought that they would be supported by those countries which backed them during the Afghan War but the tables were turned and almost all of them were stated, militants. This shift of policy led to maximization and spread of radicalization due to the feeling of disparity among the groups; turning the former friends into foes. (Yoroms 2006)
In Africa, during the 1990s, terrorism started flourishing when Osama Bin Laden (OBL) resided, planned and carried out an attack against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. In 1998, Al-Qaeda cells were able to bomb American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.(Lyman 2013)
The attack in Dar-es-Salaam took the lives of 12 people and wounded 85 people while in Nairobi an estimated 4000 people were severely injured with 32 Kenyans and 12 American dead. These attacks were directed to kill American but the collateral damage was far beyond imagination. The, then, unresponsive US policy towards Africa gave such non-state actors room to flourish. In 2002, Al-Qaeda also tried to kill Israeli passengers in an Israeli plane. The SAM missed its target but in the overall situation, three Israeli were killed pumping pressure on the American government to take severe actions against such groups. (OCHE 2014)
Starting from the 1990s to the modern day, Africa has faced terrorism in its most lethal form. The terrorist activities in Africa by radical groups have increased almost 200% while the rate of fatalities has crossed 750% from 2009 to 2015. The increase shows the disability of governments and the extent of political vacuum present throughout the continent. The continent faced approximately 1,426 terrorist attacks during 2016 which accounted for 8,120 deaths. Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al-Shabaab and Ansar al-Shariah remained the deadliest militant organization in the region. Boko Haram carried out the most lethal and largest number of attacks in the region. (Beri 2017)
Boko Haram
The organization operating in Central Africa, especially Nigeria, is said to be founded in 2002 by Ustad Mohammed Yusuf but its roots can be traced back to mid-1990s. The origin of ‘Nigerian Taliban’, which later became Jamat’u Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’wati wa’al Jihad (People Committed to Propagation of Prophet’s Teachings & Jihad) a.k.a Boko Haram dates back to 1995 at the University of Maiduguri, Borno state when Ahlul Sunaa’hwal Jama’ah al-hijra (Muslim Youth Organization) sect was set up by Abubakar Lawan. In the start, the sect was found to be conservative and non-violent.
The year 2002 marked the appointment of Muhammad Yusuf, an ethnic Kanuri for Girgir Village in Yobe State, as the head of the sect, by a committee of shaykhs, following the migration of Abubakar Lawan to Mecca & Medina for pursuing further studies in Islamic teachings. In 2002, a more radical faction split from the movement forming a splinter group comprising of 200 men. The splinter group led by Abubakar Shekau and Aminu Tashen-Ilimi accused Yusuf of being too soft. (Comolli 2015)
The philosophy of the sect is entrenched in the practice of Orthodox Islam, inspired by Salafist thoughts and writings. The commonly portrayed image of Boko Haram of forbidding Western education, the literal meaning of Boko Haram being ‘Western education is a sin’, is not true as claimed by acting leader of Boko Haram, Mallam Sanni Umaru. According to Umaru, Boko Haram actually means ‘Western Civilization’ is forbidden where Islamic culture should be implemented at all costs i.e. rule of Shariah. Although, the sect’s name has been altered but the ideological mission of deposing Nigerian state and enforcing Islamic Shariah laws in the country remains crystal clear. (Onuoha 2012)
Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb is one of the most lethal and old militant organization in Africa, which finds its roots in the militant Islamic movement during Algeria’s general elections of 1991. During the 1991 elections, the Algerian military nullified a democratic political majority won by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) leading to the formation of armed Islamic groups that coalesced into two primary movements:
The Armed Islamic Group (Group Islamique Arme, or GIA) and the Armed Islamic Movement (Movement Islamique Arme, or MIA). With time, the groups tend to change in appearance and structure but always depicted two distinct schools of thoughts. MIA’s core objective was of overturning the Algerian government and attacking state’s security forces while GIA’s agenda encompassed “re-Islamization” of Algerian society using coercion and practice of takfir, which they used to justify attacks on all targets from civilians to foreigner and military men to government officials. (Thornberry and Levy 2011)
Al-Shabab
The militant organization which operates in Somalia and neighbouring states remains one of the oldest militant organizations in Africa. Somali jihadists travelled to Afghanistan in the wake of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, during the Afghan War from 1979-1989. The Somali hardcore fighters started moving back to Somalia and formed Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya (AIAI) in 1984; by the merger of two Salafi organizations i.e.
Al Jama’a Al Islamiya and Wahdat Al Shabaab Al Islam. During the 1990s, Somalia underwent a huge political crisis during which United Nations and local actors tried their best to achieve stability but it remained of no use. At the same time, several Sharia’h courts were formed by locals to enforce law and order. These Sharia’h courts had veterans from AIAI and Afghan War. In 2004, with the help of Ethiopia, a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was formed as a ruling body comprising of representatives from Somalia’s biggest clans but TFG was unable to cope up with the situation. (Wise 2011)
Meanwhile, the Shariah courts began to gain strength. They not only filled the political vacuum but also were praised by the public. These courts became so powerful that they recruited their own militias to carry out frequently given harsh punishments. It was in 2004 when 11 of the Sharia’h courts merged to form Islamic Courts Union (ICU). A more fundamentalist faction of ICU known as Al-Shabaab or “The Youth” became very active which hijacked the movement. (Wise 2011)
Ansar Al-Shariah
In the wake of the Arab spring, a Salafist movement rose to unprecedented heights with the killing of Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011. The movement was led by conservatives trying to impose strict Sharia’h laws across Libya contradictory to the liberal policies of Gaddafi. The movement was named as Ansar Al-Shariah in Libya (ASL). After gaining momentum, ASL conducted a high-profile attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, in 2012. This marked it proper introduction in the militant world. During its initial stages, ASL focused on dawah (outreach) and provision of social services inside and outside Libya providing the group with local support. But shortly, Libyan security forces launched Operation Dignity (2014) against all Islamist militant groups making ASL adopt military action. (Zelin 2015)
Conclusion
The complex variables involved in African terrorism are not very easy to sort out by individual countries on their own. This can only take place when all the states come together in a determined effort to eradicate poverty, corruption, rigging in elections, social injustices, obstacles to democracy and disparity in incomes. Also the striving actors should be negotiated and allowed to come in mainstream politics; giving them due share in power, if public supports them.