With elections looming in October, we consider the trajectory of the current conflict in Anglophone Cameroon and demonstrate how the government’s heavy-handed response to protesters facilitated the rise of armed secessionist movements against the Cameroonian government. What began as a peaceful protest by English-speaking lawyers and teachers in Cameroon in 2016 has escalated into a…
Since February this year, a new battlefront has emerged in eastern Burkina Faso (ACLED, 2018), in the Est Region situated along the borders with Niger, Benin, and Togo is regarded as a bastion of banditry. However, militancy is a new phenomenon in this part of the country, except the reported failed attempt by Al-Mourabitoun to…
The recent conflict activity on the Gaza border can be characterized by its lack of affiliation to armed groups in Gaza and by the use of homemade and/or found weapons (i.e stones and Molotov cocktails, either thrown or attached to balloons or kites). These unaffiliated actors are responding to their daily conditions, which are punctuated…
On September 7, coalition-backed anti-Houthi forces resumed military operations outside Hodeidah, in the latest attempt to retake the western port city that the Houthis have been controlling since October 2014. The offensive is reported to have already caused tens of casualties during the weekend, mainly a result of intense air and artillery strikes on Houthi…
In the final days of August in Libya, fierce fighting erupted in Tripoli between the partnering 7th Brigade and a coalition of militias comprised of the Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, Bab Tajoura Brigade, Ghanewa Brigade, Nawasi Brigade and Misrata’s 301 brigade (Libya Observer, 31 August 2018). The invasion by the 7th Brigade took the Tripoli-based militias…
During August 2018 (see map below), Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD) and the Global Coalition Against Daesh continued to battle Islamic State (IS) fighters in the northeast, gaining control over the Iraqi border area and surrounding IS in its remaining territory in Deir-ez-Zor. QSD representatives also attempted to kick-start negotiations with the regime over Kurdish autonomy…
The military’s systematic hallowing of Boko Haram has caused a diminished foothold within Nigeria and may have accelerated lingering internal disputes. From 2016-Present, the Nigeria-Cameroon joint operations of Lafiya Dole and Last Hold have placed Boko Haram into a defensive posture, losing almost all Nigerian-controlled territory and limiting activities to remaining camps surrounding Lake Chad…
As India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day on 15 August 2018, the country continues to face multiple and complex challenges. Disorder—including political violence and protests—is increasingly multidimensional, complex, and evolving (OECD, 2016; United Nations & World Bank, 2018). Multiple types of disorder can co-occur across states, can interact, and may involve different agents as well…
As pressure from UAE-backed troops and US airstrikes has increased over the past two years, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters have found themselves engaged on multiple fronts, weakening their ability to control and manage territory. While AQAP remains a major threat to Yemeni society, a decreasing number of claimed operations by the…
On July 25, 2018, Pakistan held its first general election in five years. With the 2013 election described as one of the “bloodiest” in Pakistan’s history (BBC News, May 2, 2013), the 2018 election seems to have followed the trend following high-casualty attacks carried out by the Islamic State and a number of reports of…