The Role Of Jihadism In Sub-Saharan Africa

The two major brands of violent jihadism, IS and al-Qaeda, compete for the allegiance of various groups of African jihadists. Yet the connections between groups are more complex than mere pledges of fealty. Cross-border links often originate paradoxically not when extremists are strong, but when they are weak. During a crackdown on Boko Haram in 2009 many of its leaders went to Chad, Sudan and Somalia. Since then Sudanese Arabic voices have been heard in Boko Haram propaganda videos. The group’s main maker of car-bombs is Somali-trained. Mobile military tactics learned in Chad (known as “Toyota warfare”) have transformed Boko Haram’s modus operandi. When the group was in the ascendant last year, it turned its gaze across Nigeria’s border to the east, having recruited Cameroonians in leaner times.
The cancer of jihadism in sub-Saharan Africa will probably spread outward from conflicts now underway involving groups in Libya and Nigeria; their members are likely to flee into the sandy expanse that covers much of Africa above the equator, as happened after French forces tried to wipe out extremists in northern Mali in