Africa’s militant Islamist violence hits grim milestone with 155,000 deaths in decade

Africa has surpassed a staggering 155,000 deaths linked to militant Islamist groups over the past decade,according to a new report from the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

The report highlights an alarming 60% surge in fatalities since 2023,driven primarily by intensifying insurgencies in the Sahel and Somalia. In the past year alone,22,307 deaths were attributed to militant Islamist violence — nearly half in the Sahel region and a third in Somalia. The Sahel,particularly Burkina Faso and Mali,has seen a sevenfold rise in fatalities since 2019,with Burkina Faso now controlling only 40% of its territory. Mali,too,continues to lose ground,with Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) fighters expanding operations and using drones and IEDs with growing frequency.

Somalia remains a hotbed of militant activity,with al Shabaab and the Islamic State in Somalia together responsible for over 7,000 deaths last year. Al Shabaab’s links with Yemen’s Houthis and its piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden have worsened regional instability and disrupted global trade routes. Meanwhile,in the Lake Chad Basin,Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) continue to battle Nigerian forces,overrunning military bases and expanding into new territories. The report warns of worsening insecurity across Africa,with over 950,000 square kilometers now outside state control and more than 3.5 million people forcibly displaced — figures likely undercounted due to media restrictions and data suppression by military regimes.