Tag Archives: jihadists

Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who purportedly appeared for the first time in five years in an IS propaganda video released Monday, remains the world’s most wanted man, despite the jihadists’ “caliphate” imploding weeks ago. After declaring himself caliph in 2014, Baghdadi held sway …

  Washington, United States | AFP | Now that the Islamic State group has officially lost its geographic “caliphate,” the Pentagon is marking a historic moment in its years-long campaign to defeat the jihadists. From a military perspective at least, the United States can claim significant success in its strategy of …

Baghouz, Syria | AFP | Kurdish-led fighters backed by US warplanes tried Thursday to break the last defences of holdout Islamic State group jihadists making a suicidal last stand in a remote Syrian village. All that remains of a sprawling cross-border “caliphate” the jihadists declared in 2014 is a battered riverside …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | Germany vowed Monday to prosecute German IS fighters but warned that it would be “extremely difficult” to organise the repatriation of European nationals from Syria, after US President Donald Trump called on allies to take back alleged jihadists. Syria’s US-backed Kurdish forces, which are battling Islamic State group jihadists in …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | A teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but now wants to return to Britain on Sunday gave birth in a refugee camp, as European governments grapple with what to do with returning jihadists ahead of a US troop pullout. Shamima Begum, whose fate has stirred controversy …

Paris, France | AFP | The imminent fall of the Islamic State’s caliphate in Iraq and Syria has left many countries grappling with what to do with jihadists who want to return. Several hundred foreign jihadists are being detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main fighters on the …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Muhammadu Buhari was elected president of Nigeria in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram jihadists and tackle endemic corruption. As he seeks re-election, here is a look back at key developments in the country during his first term. – 2015: successes against Boko Haram …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | More than 30,000 people have fled the northeast Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon in recent days because of fears of renewed Boko Haram attacks, the UN, civilian militia and residents said on Tuesday. The latest mass movement comes as the world body voiced renewed concern …

Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso | AFP | In Burkina Faso, a country struggling to contain jihadist violence, education is one of the victims of the insurgency, with hundreds of schools closed, teachers in hiding and pupils kept indoors over the fear of attacks. In the conflict-ridden north, more than three years …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | On the edge of the forbidding Sahara in the dusty northern market town of Djibo, Burkina Faso’s battle against jihadism is at its most acute. This impoverished corner of West Africa has always seemed distant from the central government in Ouagadougou. Today, though, that …