ADF

ADF STAFF Known as the “Black Decade,” the 1990s in Algeria were devastating. After a decision by the military to intervene and cancel elections in 1992, insurgents unleashed near-daily attacks against civilian and governmental targets that were met by violent crackdowns from security forces. An estimated 200,000 people died in the civil war. When President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took power in 1999, he pledged to restore peace and make reconciliation a cornerstone of his administration. Efforts by the Algerian government to deradicalize two groups, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) and the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), illustrate the promise and the difficulty of…

U.S. Africa Command Staff Some problems don’t have simple solutions. The confounding decision by a young man or woman to leave home and join a terror group such as ISIS, al-Shabaab or Boko Haram is one of those problems. An estimated 5,600 people have left Africa to fight in Iraq and Syria. ISIS and other terror groups with similarly twisted ideologies have successfully recruited on the continent and as far away as Western Europe and North America. These recruiters inhabit cyberspace, schools and places of worship. They promise all sorts of things, including a thrilling adventure and eternal salvation. A…

Kenya is experiencing a growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism due to a number of factors. One: We share a border of approximately 700 kilometers with Somalia, where al-Shabaab bases are located. The al-Shabaab are luring Kenyan youth and are using these bases in Somalia to recruit, radicalize, train and plan terrorist attacks against Kenya and the region. Two: We are subject to infiltration by extremists, a challenge that is complicated by the realities of our large, indigenous Somali population.  Three: We have also seen the use of protected spaces to foment violent extremism. Refugee camps are particularly vulnerable…

Programs to Deradicalize Extremists Are Necessary and Imperfect The idealized version of deradicalization is that it happens in an instant. A dedicated jihadist sees the light and chooses to walk away. In this version, he becomes horrified by the violence all around him and decides to abandon the cause. Unfortunately, the reality is much more complex. Just as people join extremist groups for many reasons, they leave for equally complex reasons. Economic incentives, theological persuasion, disillusionment or the death of a charismatic leader all can cause someone to turn his back on terror. And once he chooses to leave, the…

In the heart of Algeria’s northern Kabylie region, Azro Nethor — the zenith prayer rock — towers 1,884 meters above sea level, at the end of a steep path in the Atlas Mountains. On the rock’s summit sits El-Jammaa Oufella, which means “the mosque at the top.” It’s a small, stark place of worship. Inside, slim candles light the alcoves in its white walls. For three successive Fridays each August, thousands of people from Kabylie and Algiers flock to the mountain peak, wheezing in the suffocating heat, for a pilgrimage rooted in a belief in the powers of holy men.…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a committee to advise him on how best to tackle corruption and reform the legal system. The seven-member Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption is made up mostly of academics. Buhari was elected in May 2015, largely on promises of good governance and security. He has said he believes government officials have stolen about $150 billion from the public purse over the past decade. “The committee’s brief is to advise the present administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice…

REUTERS Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for helping to build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. The nation is held up as an example of a peaceful transition in a region otherwise struggling with violence and upheaval. The quartet of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT); the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers was formed in the summer of 2013. It helped support the democratization process when it was in danger of collapsing, the Norwegian Nobel committee said in its…

The extremist group skillfully uses the Internet and social network tools to attract people living on the margins of society. ADF STAFF It’s happening almost all over the world: Teenagers are lying to their parents, secretly saving up money, getting passports and sneaking away in the night to join an extremist group. Some 20,000 foreign fighters have left their homes to join ISIS. Regardless of what country they come from, there are some patterns to these enlistments: Via the Internet and social media, young people — sometimes called “bedroom radicals” — have been recruited by skillful, tech-savvy ISIS fanatics. The…

Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring and has long been held up as a model of stability and pluralism in volatile North Africa. But in 2015, a series of attacks sent shockwaves around the world. On March 18, 2015, three gunmen shot 22 people, most of them foreign tourists, at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis. Just three months later, a 23-year-old gunman opened fire at a beach resort near the city of Sousse, killing 38 vacationers. In November, a suicide attack against a military bus in the nation’s capital took the lives of 12 members of the…

A Conversation with Ambassador Francisco Madeira, head of the African Union Mission in Somalia ADF STAFF Photos by AMISOM Ambassador Francisco Madeira took over in December 2015 as the African Union’s special representative for Somalia and the head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). A native of Mozambique, Madeira is one of Africa’s most distinguished diplomats. He served on the delegation that negotiated the end to the civil war in Mozambique in 1992. He was special envoy of the AU chairperson to São Tomé and Príncipe after the July 2003 coup d’état in that country. From 1999 to 2010, he…