The number of victims attributed to so-called “Islamic jihadist groups” in Africa surged to over 22,000 deaths in 2024, according to a report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS). The report revealed that the Sahel region was the hardest hit, while Algeria recorded 17 deaths, all resulting from separate incidents within its borders.
According to the report, as cited by DefenseWeb, 22,307 deaths were linked to extremist Islamic groups last year, marking what was described as a “record level of lethality”, continuing a sharp rise that began in 2023 with escalating violence in areas such as Somalia and the Sahel.
The Sahel region alone accounted for 10,685 deaths, nearly half of the terrorism-related fatalities on the continent. Somalia came second, recording 7,289 deaths, amounting to approximately one-third of the total.
The report further stated that three regions—the Sahel, Somalia, and the Lake Chad Basin (which includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and southeastern Niger)—accounted for 99% of all terrorism-related deaths in Africa in the past year.
The report also documented an increase in battles and armed operations across the five major hotspots of extremist activity in Africa: the Sahel, Somalia, Mozambique, North Africa, and the Lake Chad Basin. It highlighted that the number of battle-related deaths alone rose to 15,678, a 14% increase from the previous year.
The analysis noted that extremist groups have seized control of nearly 950,000 square kilometers of inhabited land across Africa—an area roughly the size of Tanzania. A significant portion of this territory lies within the Sahel.
The Africa Center’s report pointed out that Somalia and the Lake Chad Basin have consistently been violent flashpoints over the past decade, with each accounting for around a quarter of annual fatalities. However, since 2022, the Sahel has overtaken both regions, becoming the deadliest zone.
It added that, over the past ten years, both Somalia and the Sahel have recorded more than 49,000 deaths each, while the Lake Chad Basin recorded approximately 39,000 deaths over the same period.
In North Africa, the annual average number of terrorism-related deaths over the last three years has remained around 30, most resulting from security operations targeting remnants of extremist groups. In 2024, Algeria recorded 13 violent incidents and 17 deaths, three of which were linked to a small armed cell that included foreign fighters, reportedly affiliated with ISIS, who had arrived from Syria to collect funds for the global jihadist network.
The report also highlighted that Libya continues to serve as a transit hub and logistical and financial base for groups active in the Sahel. Libyan authorities recently arrested two Syrian nationals suspected of facilitating the movement of fighters from Syria to Mali through Libyan territory.
