Desert Drift, Declining Deadliness: Understanding the Evolution of AQIM's Suicide Bombings
Abstract
Contemporarily, al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliate group Jamaat Nusratal-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) are among the greatest threats to peace and stability on the African continent. Despite the fact that AQIM, JNIM, and the multiple other AQIM-affiliated or allied groups that have risen and fallen over the past 13 years have come to serve as major sources of concern for the states and populations in which they operate (and thus the international community writ large),little systematic analysis has been undertaken to understand the nature of AQIM and its current and historical affiliates employment of one particular tactic of violence that the group has used across multiple countries, toward various targets, and in every year since its inception: suicide bombings. In an effort to offer the most comprehensive overview to date of AQIMs suicide bombing efforts and strategies, this report leverages a unique database created by the Combating Terrorism Center at WestPoint, which details the entirety of AQIMs suicide bombing efforts from March 2007, when its first suicide bombing occurred, to September 2020, when data collection ended. In offering the most in depth overview of AQIMs suicide bombing efforts, this report adds to observers understanding of AQIM and its lineage of affiliated or allied terror groups that are collectively being regarded as some of the most pernicious and destabilizing threats on the African continent.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1145097
Entities
People
- Caleb Weiss
- Ellen Chapin
- Jason Warner
Organizations
- United States Military Academy