Muslim Majorities Protection: Armed Groups and Sectarian Violence

Summary

Jihadist and sectarian violence across the Sahel, Nigeria, Somalia and Pakistan kills, taxes and displaces Muslim civilians, with weak accountability letting attacks on mosques and worshippers continue.

What it argues

1. Sahel security vacuum

   Coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and the withdrawal of French and UN forces left a vacuum JNIM and ISSP exploit, ACLED reports. Political violence in the three countries rose 46% since 2021; violence against civilians rose 38% in Mali in 2023 alone. Weakened states have let rival jihadist groups expand control over Muslim-majority areas.

2. Nigeria's mosque abductions

   President Tinubu ordered a rescue operation after an estimated 600 worshippers were abducted from mosques in Niger State. About 2,000 residents fled into Benin; a security expert says it is not yet clear who carried out the attack. Mass abductions of worshippers have become a national security and election issue in Nigeria.

3. Pakistan-Afghanistan tension

   Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering groups such as the Pakistan Taliban and ISIL-K that attack Pakistani Muslims. The Afghan Taliban deny this; cross-border clashes in October killed dozens on both sides. Cross-border militancy is straining Pakistan-Afghanistan relations amid rising attacks on Pakistani civilians.

4. Extortion and aid shortfalls

   JNIM, ISSP and IS Sahel impose zakat, a forced Islamic tax, on villagers, killing those who refuse and destroying mosques, markets and water systems. Somalia's Humanitarian Funding Plan was only 19% funded as of September, as 4.4 million people needed urgent food aid. Jihadist extortion and falling aid funding together deepen hardship for Muslim civilians.

5. Impunity for attacks

   HRW says Mali and Niger have failed to adequately investigate or prosecute Islamist armed groups' attacks on villagers. Witnesses say appeals to authorities before attacks went unanswered, leaving communities undefended. Lack of accountability lets armed groups keep attacking Muslim civilians without consequence.

6. Mosque bombing investigation

   Pakistani security forces arrested family members of the Islamabad suicide bomber in Peshawar and Karachi. An ISIL splinter faction claimed the bombing; officials allege the attacker had traveled to and from Afghanistan. Authorities are pursuing suspects but the full network behind the mosque attack remains unconfirmed.

7. Mosques as targets

   A suicide bombing killed at least 31 worshippers at a Shia mosque in Islamabad during Friday prayers. An attack blamed on the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara killed 44 people at a mosque in Niger during Ramadan. IS Sahel fighters rounded up and executed men near a mosque in a Niger village that refused to pay zakat. Mosques and worshippers at prayer have repeatedly been struck directly by armed groups.

8. Sunni-Shia sectarian strain

   Analysts warn the Islamabad bombing, which struck a Shia mosque, could inflame Sunni-Shia tension, especially in Kurram district. Sayed says many Pakistani ISIL recruits come from anti-Shia Sunni groups, aiding further recruitment. Sectarian attacks on Shia Muslims risk feeding a cycle of further sectarian violence in Pakistan.