Using data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED) from 1997 to 2012, this brief outlines the geography of Islamist militancy on the African continent and provides an analysis of commonalities and differences across distinct militant Islamist groups. The analysis shows that the levels of violent Islamist activity in Africa have risen sharply in recent years, both in absolute and proportional terms. While much of this increase has been driven by the intensification of conflict in a small number of key countries, there is also evidence for the geographic spread of violent Islamist activity both south- and eastward on the continent. Differences within and across violent Islamist groups reveal differential objectives, strategies, and modalities of violence across Africa. With ongoing conflicts in Somalia, Nigeria, and Mali among the most violent in Africa -- and evidence of the spread of violent Islamist activity across Africa -- violent Islamist groups, their activities, and objectives are likely to remain extremely influential both nationally and internationally.
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