AfricaThree leading African terrorist groups: similarities and differences

Published 8 October 2013

Three African Islamist terrorist organizations — al-shabaab, al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and Boko Haram – have been responsible for many acts of terrorism. The three groups, or at least their leaders and most of their followers, adhere to a Wahhabi version of Islam, which is practiced in Saudi Arabia, and all oppose Western influence in the countries in which they operate. The groups also share a penchant for internal factional violence, and senior leaders of both al Shabab and Boko Haram were recently killed by rivals. There are, however, important differences among the three groups.

Three African Islamist terrorist organizations — al-shabaab, al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and Boko Haram – have been responsible for many acts of terrorism. The three groups, or at least their leaders and most of their followers, adhere to a Wahhabi version of Islam, which is practiced in Saudi Arabia, and all oppose Western influence in the countries in which they operate. The groups also share a penchant for internal factional violence, and senior leaders of both al Shabab and Boko Haram were recently killed by rivals.

Policymic notes, however, that there are differences among the three groups.

Al Shabab
Somalia-based al-Shabaab was formed as the militant youth wing of the now defunct Union of Islamic Courts in 2006. The group employs guerrilla tactics to gain territorial control of Somalia. The group’s operations extend to the Somali borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, and into Kenya, where the group has a residue of support in the Kenya’s Muslim community. The recent al Shabab’s attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi was in retaliation for Kenya’s repeated military incursions into Somalia to attack al Shabab’s bases, and for Kenya’s support of the UN-backed African Union peace keeping mission in Somalia.

Ahmed Abdi Godane is the leader of al Shabaab and was the main driver behind the group’s establishment of formal ties with al Qaeda in 2012.

One problem al Shabaab faces is that the radical form of Wahhabism it preaches is alien to  the majority of Somalis, who follow the Sufi Muslim traditions.

Al Shabaab’s Wahhabism aside, its main focus is on attaining national goals such as Somali unification and opposition to foreign presence on Somali soil. This emphasis on Somali nationalism helps the organization raise considerable funds from Somali diaspora communities, and also helps in recruiting foreigners of Somali origins, including in the United States.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was founded by fighters in Armed Islamic Group (AIG), an Islamist militant group which fought in the brutal Algerian civil war ( (1992-2002). That war broke out after the Algerian military canceled the second round of the elections for fear that the Islamist parties would win.

AQIM operate across the Sahel, the area on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The Sahel covers parts of Gambia, Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria, southern Niger, northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, central Chad, southern Sudan, and Eritrea. .

AQIM does not have a specific national goal, and its fighters roam the Sahel, ignoring national borders. It relies on smuggling, kidnapping-for-ransom, and drug running to fund its operations, and it imposes a strict Sharia law in areas that come under its control, even if that control is temporary.

AQIM has links with al Qaeda and is committed to Wahhabism. AQIM’s focus is on the Sahel, and the group does not appear to have an appeal or support beyond that area. Its threat to U.S. interests lies mainly in its ability to destabilize pro-Western governments in the area of its operations.

Boko Haram
Boko Haram is a radical Islamist insurgency operating across northern Nigeria. The group has waged war against the Nigerian government and the Nigerian education system, which the group considers to have been corrupted by Western influence. As is the case with al Shabaab and AQIM, Boko Haram is influenced by Wahhabism, but unlike the other two groups, it does not have a direct link to between al Qaeda.

Policymic quotes former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, who defined Boko Haram’s mission as “looking toward the creation of God’s kingdom on earth through violence against those they see as Islam’s enemies, rather than the achievement of a political program.”

Led by Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, the group’s tactics include suicide and timed bombings, assassinations, drive-by shootings, and mass killings. Schools, dormitories, churches, opposing mosques, and crowded marketplaces are targets for Boko Haram’s attack. There is no evidence that Boko Haram has international aspirations beyond the destruction of Western-style government and practices in Nigeria.