At the height of its power, an army of nearly 100,000 Islamic State jihadists controlled a territory the size of Britain that snaked throughout the Middle East.
Now, largely driven out of the Middle East, ISIS is taking root in the Sahel, a tract of land that stretches the width of North Africa. This region is predominantly Muslim, poor and badly governed - the perfect conditions for extremist groups to thrive.
While the G5 Sahel, a coalition of five African nations in the Sahel, is trying to contain the spread of extremism in the region, the Trump administration has said it wants to reassign hundreds of the 7,500 troops currently serving in Africa to focus on threats from China and Russia.
Just below the Sahel is Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and home to Boko Haram, an extremist group that promotes a version of Islam forbidding Muslims to partake in any activity associated with Western culture.
ISWAP has a mission to create the next caliphate.
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram splinter group of around 3,500, is now the biggest ISIS-affiliated group in the world and has a mission to create the next caliphate.
After the death of Libya’s former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, smuggling networks syphoned weapons out of Libya into the hands of jihadists throughout Africa. As a result, the number of violent incidents involving jihadist groups in Africa has increased by 300% in the years 2010-2017.
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