Home Headline Deaths caused by Islamic fundamentalism in Africa increased by 48% in 2022

Deaths caused by Islamic fundamentalism in Africa increased by 48% in 2022

“Following a growing trend that lasts a decade, violent events related to Islamic extremist groups in Africa increased by 22%, while deaths increased by 48% last year,” according to a report by the ISS, quoted by the Efe agency.

Islamic extremist violence on the African continent continues to be concentrated in five zones, “each with distinct local actors and context-specific challenges”: Sahel, Somalia, Lake Chad basin, Mozambique and North Africa.

In this sense, the ISS explained that the escalation in the number of deaths “is entirely due to the increase in violence in the Sahel and Somalia”, which represent 74% of the total deaths recorded in Africa.

Western Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) recorded the greatest escalation of events linked to Islamic fundamentalism, with an increase of 36%.

“The Sahel currently concentrates 40% of all violent activity by Islamic militant groups in Africa, more than any other African region”, the report reads.

The ISS further assured that the introduction of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner (confirmed in Mali) “further intensified violence against civilians in the Sahel”, being “linked to 726 reported civilian deaths, compared to 1,984 of Islamic militants”.

In the case of Somalia, there were 6,225 reported deaths linked to Al-Shebab in 2022, an increase of 2,606 compared to the previous year.

“This is a record level of deaths and exceeds the total for 2020 and 2021 combined,” the ISS added.

By contrast, in the Lake Chad basin, Mozambique and North Africa, deaths from Islamic extremist violence have stagnated or declined through 2022.

However, “the number of reported violent incidents linked to Islamist groups in northern Mozambique increased by 29% in 2022, reaching 437”.

In the case of the Lake Chad basin, Islamic extremist violence “has broadly stabilized over the past year, following a sharp 32% decline between 2020 and 2021,” but there has been a 33% increase in violence against civilians.

Contact Us

Generalist media, focusing on the relationship between Portuguese-speaking countries and China.

Plataforma Studio

Newsletter

Subscribe Plataforma Newsletter to keep up with everything!