Regional Overview – Asia 26 March 2018
Levels of political violence events remain static across South and Southeast Asian countries, with the only exception being Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, events of political violence spiked by over 38% while the overall fatality count dropped by almost 40% last week compared to the previous one.…
Regional Overview – Africa 26 March 2018
Last week, key trends on the African continent included an increasing level of political violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) and in Mali, as well as a high-level attack in Egypt ahead of the 26 March elections. …
Protests in Guinea
Guinean protests became more violent as demonstrators took to the street again last week to protest against the local election results and the month-long teachers’ strike (Afrique La Tribune, 14/03/2018). Since the election, on 4 February 2018, Guinea has seen consistent waves of protest and violent demonstrations, as can be observed in the spike in riots and protests in Figure 1.…
Protests in Morocco
Jerada, the remote Moroccan mining city, remains the only active hotspot of protests in Morocco and is currently witnessing a period of high intensity. From the map (Figure 1) showing riots and protests in Morocco in 2017 and 2018, it can be seen that there is significantly more activity in Jerada than any other city in Morocco this year.…
Inside Houthis’ Sa’dah Stronghold
Historically the home to a powerful Zaydi dynasty and more recently the birthplace of the Houthi insurgency, Yemen’s northwestern governorate of Sa’dah has long managed to defy government control and has borne the brunt of the Saudi-led coalition’s aerial campaign throughout much of Yemen’s most recent civil war.…
Pro-Government Militia Autonomy on the Battlefield in Syria
The presence of pro-government militias during civil wars has been a prominent feature in armed conflicts across the globe, and Syria is no exception (Kishi and Raleigh, 2018). The Syrian government first mobilised loyalist gangs, known as “Shabiha,” to act against civilian opposition when peaceful demonstrations began in Syria in 2011 (Marsh and Siddique, 2011).…
Demonstrations in Iraq
Since the end of the Hawija offensive in early October 2017, during which the Islamic State ousted from the last major urban centre in Iraq, events of political violence and reported fatalities in the country have seen a steady decline.…
Targeting of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)
French forces of ‘Operation Barkhane’ aided by local militias step up operations against ‘Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.’ Since early February 2018, French forces of Operation Barkhane, aided by a coalition of local militias including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA) and the Tuareg Imghad and Allies Self-defence Group (GATIA), have intensified operations targeting Islamist militants in the Gao and Menaka regions of north-eastern Mali (see Figure 1).…