The Islamic State group has turned their recruiting toward Africa, according to the cover story of the militant group’s most recent issue of its online recruitment magazine.
According to Newsweek, the title of the March 30 issue of Dabiq magazine is “Shariah Alone Will Rule Africa,” and includes interviews and photos of the Islamic State child soldiers.
One of the reasons the Islamic State is targeting Africa as a place to expand is the “rejection of nationalism,” the magazine says, driving Africans toward the militant group. Specifically, Newsweek adds, the Islamic State is focusing on Tunisia, Algeria, the Sinai Peninsula and West Africa, or the “Libyan Arena.”
Michael Horowitz, a senior analyst at the geopolitical risk consultancy Max Security Solutions, told Newsweek that focusing on Africa is due to recent losses in Kobane, Syria, and Tikrit, Iraq.
“There is a huge focus on Africa. It has been one of the strategic objectives of IS since the beginning because the problem with IS is that it needs to convey this image of extension,” Horowitz said to Newsweek. “Africa is an opportunity because you have a lot of countries that are destabilized, you have existing groups that have drifted away from al-Qaeda.”
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