Resurgent suicide bombings in Pakistan highlight a persistent threat driven by militancy, sectarian violence and regional instability despite years of decline.

AOAV analyses how NATO’s failure to secure Libya’s vast arms depots after the 2011 intervention helped fuel insurgencies and terror across West Africa.

A quiet war is engulfing West Africa, where improvised explosive devices are devastating communities, dismantling state authority, and threatening to unravel entire nations through a deadly combination of terror, displacement, and institutional collapse.

A new CAR report reveals how decades-old state-issued weapons—many diverted from national stockpiles—are fuelling Salafi-jihadist insurgencies in the central Sahel, exposing the enduring danger of legacy arms left to fester in unstable regions.

The proliferation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) across West Africa, driven by the misuse of dual-use technologies and weak border controls, has created a profound security and humanitarian crisis that demands urgent, coordinated regional and international action.

The Horn of Africa and the Sahel face significant challenges from conflict, climate change, and terrorism, necessitating tailored and effective responses to address their unique security and developmental needs.

The Islamic State in the Kheranon Region (ISKP) continues to challenge the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, conducting domestic terrorism and drawing international concern over its potential for broader attacks, supported by complex, evolving financial networks.

On 11 October, the UNGA voted in a draft resolution on Countering the Threat Posed by Improvised Explosive Devices. Building on resolutions and decisions going back to 2015, the resolution is a response to the “devastation caused by the increasing use of IEDs,” notably by non-state actors. 

Based on IED data collected over the last decade, AOAV finds that, globally, incidents of IED attacks decreased by 12% from 2019 to 2020.