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Four Deadliest Terrorist Organizations in Africa

Who are Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram deadly terrorist groups in Africa?


 Parts of Africa are under constant terrorist attacks and live with the constant threat of terrorism throughout their daily lives. According to Wikipedia list of 2017 terrorist attacks, the four groups responsible for the majority of the terrorist attacks or suspected are Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram.

Al-Shabaab


Four groups responsible for the majority of the terrorist attacks or suspected are Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram.
Al-Shabab means The Youth in Arabic is a Salafist
jihadist group based in East Africa, mainly Somalia. 
Al-Shabaab means The Youth in Arabic is a Salafist jihadist group based in East Africa, mainly Somalia. Al-Shabab has staged numerous attacks in Kenya because it has sent its troops into Somali territory. In February 2010, the group is allied to al-Qaeda. Al-Shabaab has carried out more than 360 attacks in Somalia from 2006-2017. 

On January 27, 2017, Al-Shabaab killed at least 57 soldiers in takeover of peacekeeping base in Kulbiyow, Somalia. In the middle of the day on September 21, 2013, al-Shabaab fighters stormed a busy Nairobi Kenya shopping center, throwing grenades and firing indiscriminately at shoppers for 4 days resulting in at least 67 deaths. Al-Shabaab was declared terrorist group by US on March 18, 2008.

Al-Qaeda


Al-Qaeda means The Base in Arabic and is broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in 1989.
Al-Qaeda is the oldest of the Islamist militant groups
operating in North Africa
Al-Qaeda means The Base in Arabic and is broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in 1989. The oldest of the Islamist militant groups operating in North Africa, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) came into being in 2005 when it changed its name from the Algerian Salafi Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) and announced its allegiance to Osama Bin Laden. In February 2017, 15 people were killed and 19 injured in Tiloa, Niger in an ambush attack by Al-Qaeda militants. Al-Qaeda was declared terrorist group by US on October 8, 1999.


Islamic State formerly known as ISIS


Soldiers who defeated Islamic State formerly known as ISIS militants show arms captured from combatants.
Soldiers who defeated Islamic State formerly
 known as ISIS militants show arms
captured from combatants.
Islamic State formerly known as ISIS can trace its roots back to the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian. In 2004, a year after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and formed al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which became a major force in the insurgency.

February 2017, Islamic State militants in Qandala, Somalia executed three civilians and three soldiers. In the same month, two Christians were killed by Islamic State militants. The first was shot dead and the second was abducted and later burned alive. Islamic State was declared terrorist group by US on December 17, 2004.


Boko Haram


Women and girls who were former captives of Boko Haram face marginalization and rejection by family and community members because of social and cultural norms related to sexual violence.
Former captive of Boko Haram
Boko Haram founded in 2002 official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad"  was initially focused on opposing Western education earning the nickname Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language. Adamawa, Borno and Yobe are the three Nigerian states worst-affected by Boko Haram. 

Boko Haram declared terrorist group by US in 2013. About 11 people were killed Saturday March 28, 2015 and two more injured ‎in attacks apparently by Boko Haram in voting stations in the northeastern state of Gombe Nigeria.

Boko Haram states its purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. Women and girls who were former captives of Boko Haram face marginalization and rejection by family and community members because of social and cultural norms related to sexual violence. Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.

What is a terrorist organization?


Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram are the four deadliest terrorist organizations in Africa
Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Boko Haram
 are the four deadliest terrorist organizations in Africa
The Bureau of Counterterrorism in the US State Department reviews potential foreign organizations by investigating actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, also if the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.

The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.

The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.

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