Algeria – Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, whose group occupied northern Mali in 2012, pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a statement posted the 1 May 14 on Islamist websites. Belmokhtar was a leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which, along with other armed Islamist groups, took advantage of a military coup in 2012 to occupy northern Mali before being driven out by French and African troops. The elusive Islamist, who staged the deadly siege of an Algerian gas plant last year, was thought to have been killed in Mali, but security sources believe that he had moved into Libya and remained active. Last year Zawahiri ordered the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to confine its activities to Iraq after it was accused of widespread abuse against Syrian civilians and rival rebels. Later, Zawahiri declared al-Nusra Front to be the official Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. In more recent comments, Zawahiri called for unity among Islamists fighting in Syria to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The one-eyed Belmokhtar split from AQIM in 2013 to form his own group, the Signatories in Blood, and masterminded the deadly raid against Algeria's Amenas gas plant in which 38 hostages were killed in a four-day siege last year.
Central African Republic/France – French forces fought an armed group in northern Central African Republic that is blamed for killing three health workers from Doctors Without Borders on 28 Apr 14 according to an official statement. The French military announced the 6 May 14 that its forces had battled rebels in the region of Boguila-Kota and that 'numerous losses' had been inflicted. The group that killed the three health workers plus 22 others was from the Islamist militia faction that overthrew the government last year and has since been overthrown. This is one of the few combat engagements in Central African Republic that the French have announced.
Egypt – On the 2 May 14 two suicide blasts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed a soldier and injured five civilians in two separate incidents. The soldier was manning a checkpoint in the southern Al-Tur district when a bomber struck. Five civilians, all Egyptians, were injured in a second attack nearby on a bus. Security forces have deployed in strength to protect the resorts along the South Sinai coast that are a major plank of the country's battered tourism sector.
Kenya – At least two people were killed and 53 others injured in two bus explosions that occurred within meters of each other near the Homeland Inn on Thika Road and the Thika Road Mall (TRM) on the 4 May 14. Police said the explosion at the Homeland Inn occurred at around 1720 hrs and as police were responding at that scene they received information of a second explosion near TRM in Roysambu. The police believed that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were used in both attacks but were still carrying out investigations and nothing has been heard of since at the time of writing. The devices were thought to have been left on the vehicles by terrorists posing as passengers. The explosions occurred less than 24 hours (3 May 14) after twin blasts rocked the coastal city of Mombasa leaving three dead and tens of others injured.
Nigeria – A blast on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja has killed at least a dozen people it was reported on the 1 May 14. The blast came a week before Abuja was due to host the World Economic Forum on Africa, an annual gathering which brings together international leaders, policy makers and entrepreneurs. Boko Haram who would probably be responsible for the attack was attempting to gain more publicity.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram struck again in Borno State, killing hundreds of people in fresh attacks, as the US announced that it was to join the ongoing hunt for hundreds of abducted school girls on the 7 May 14. On the 5 May 14 in the town of Gamboru Ngala near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, residents said that heavily armed Boko Haram militants gunned down civilians and set fire to buildings including a police station. The attack in Gamboru Ngala happened after security personnel deployed in the town were moved to another area as part of the ongoing operations to find the missing girls. The gunmen in armoured vehicles stormed the town, randomly opening fire at the public in a local market.
Uganda – The United States has received intelligence of a "specific terrorist threat" against churches and other places of worship in the Ugandan capital, its embassy there said. A security message on the embassy's website did not say who was planning the attack, but Somali Islamist militants have previously threatened, and struck, Uganda and other east African countries that have sent troops into Somalia. "The threat information indicates a group of attackers may be preparing to strike places of worship in Kampala, particularly churches, including some that may be frequented by expatriates, in May or June," said the notice dated 6 May 14. In 2010, al-Shabaab bombers killed 77 people watching the World Cup soccer final in a bar and restaurant in Kampala. In March 2014, the Ugandan authorities warned of a militant plot to strike petrol tankers and fuel depots.
Central African Republic/France – French forces fought an armed group in northern Central African Republic that is blamed for killing three health workers from Doctors Without Borders on 28 Apr 14 according to an official statement. The French military announced the 6 May 14 that its forces had battled rebels in the region of Boguila-Kota and that 'numerous losses' had been inflicted. The group that killed the three health workers plus 22 others was from the Islamist militia faction that overthrew the government last year and has since been overthrown. This is one of the few combat engagements in Central African Republic that the French have announced.
Egypt – On the 2 May 14 two suicide blasts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed a soldier and injured five civilians in two separate incidents. The soldier was manning a checkpoint in the southern Al-Tur district when a bomber struck. Five civilians, all Egyptians, were injured in a second attack nearby on a bus. Security forces have deployed in strength to protect the resorts along the South Sinai coast that are a major plank of the country's battered tourism sector.
Kenya – At least two people were killed and 53 others injured in two bus explosions that occurred within meters of each other near the Homeland Inn on Thika Road and the Thika Road Mall (TRM) on the 4 May 14. Police said the explosion at the Homeland Inn occurred at around 1720 hrs and as police were responding at that scene they received information of a second explosion near TRM in Roysambu. The police believed that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were used in both attacks but were still carrying out investigations and nothing has been heard of since at the time of writing. The devices were thought to have been left on the vehicles by terrorists posing as passengers. The explosions occurred less than 24 hours (3 May 14) after twin blasts rocked the coastal city of Mombasa leaving three dead and tens of others injured.
Nigeria – A blast on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja has killed at least a dozen people it was reported on the 1 May 14. The blast came a week before Abuja was due to host the World Economic Forum on Africa, an annual gathering which brings together international leaders, policy makers and entrepreneurs. Boko Haram who would probably be responsible for the attack was attempting to gain more publicity.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram struck again in Borno State, killing hundreds of people in fresh attacks, as the US announced that it was to join the ongoing hunt for hundreds of abducted school girls on the 7 May 14. On the 5 May 14 in the town of Gamboru Ngala near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, residents said that heavily armed Boko Haram militants gunned down civilians and set fire to buildings including a police station. The attack in Gamboru Ngala happened after security personnel deployed in the town were moved to another area as part of the ongoing operations to find the missing girls. The gunmen in armoured vehicles stormed the town, randomly opening fire at the public in a local market.
Uganda – The United States has received intelligence of a "specific terrorist threat" against churches and other places of worship in the Ugandan capital, its embassy there said. A security message on the embassy's website did not say who was planning the attack, but Somali Islamist militants have previously threatened, and struck, Uganda and other east African countries that have sent troops into Somalia. "The threat information indicates a group of attackers may be preparing to strike places of worship in Kampala, particularly churches, including some that may be frequented by expatriates, in May or June," said the notice dated 6 May 14. In 2010, al-Shabaab bombers killed 77 people watching the World Cup soccer final in a bar and restaurant in Kampala. In March 2014, the Ugandan authorities warned of a militant plot to strike petrol tankers and fuel depots.
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