ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
hostages in the Splendid hotel which was retaken by Burkinabe
and French forces the following day. In total, at least 28
people were killed and 56 injured. Also on January 16, AQIM
claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two foreigners
in Baraboul, Soum Province, close to the Malian border. Furthermore,
on December 16, around 40 militants of Ansaroul
Islam, a newly emerged AQIM-affiliated group, attacked a
military post in Nassoumbou, Soum, killing at least twelve
soldiers and wounding four, while two attackers were killed.
In Niger, alleged members of AQIM attacked a market in Dolbel,
Tillabry region, close to the border with Burkina Faso
on March 17, killing three policemen. Moreover, suspected
AQIM militants conducted several attacks on refugee camps
throughout the year. In the most fatal incident on October 6,
40 attackers raided a refugee camp in Tazalit, Tahoua region,
leaving 22 security forces dead.
In Cte d'Ivoire, on March 13, three AQIM militants attacked
a beach resort in Grand-Bassam, Sud-Como Region, leaving
15 civilians and three security forces dead as well as 33 people
injured. However, the government stated that the police
had killed at least six attackers. chf, wih, ala, bkm, jas
BAHRAIN (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1975
The violent crisis over the orientation of the political system
and national power between Shiite opposition groups and the
Sunni government continued.
The opposition, mainly represented by the parliamentary
groups al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and the Coalition of
February 14 Youth, called for a reform of the political system,
for democracy, demanded measures against corruption and
called for the release of arrested opposition leaders.
After Saudi Arabia had executed the Shiite cleric Nimr al-
Nimr, a prominent religious figure, on New Year's day, protests
erupted throughout Bahrain and other countries, lasting several
days [→ Saudi Arabia (Shiites)]. The Bahraini police used
tear gas to disperse protests in Abu Saiba, Northern Governorate.
An attack on the Saudi Embassy in Iran caused the
Bahraini government to end diplomatic relations with Iran on
January 4.
To mark the 5th anniversary of the 2011 uprising, opposition
protesters took to the streets from February 11 to 16, demanding
freedom and democracy. Police used tear gas and
birdshot to disperse the crowds and furthermore arrested at
least 89 people.
On April 11, the government released a list of 68 organizations,
marking them as terrorist groups. Among them were a
number of Shiite opposition groups, such as the February 14
Coalition, which had previously organized anti-government
protests. The list also named groups like the al-Ashtar
Brigades and the Resistance Brigades which previously engaged
in violent attacks against the government.
On May 16, the government passed an amendment to the
Political Society Law from 2005. The original law regulated
political and civil activities in the public sphere and had already
restricted the activities ofinfluential societal actors in
politics, such as judges, diplomats and military actors. The
amendment now extended the regulations to religious figures,
such as clerics and imams, and criminalized the inclusion
of political speech in sermons. On June 12, the King
ratified the amendment. On July 17, authorities dissolved
the main Shiite opposition group al-Wefaq Islamic Society on
charges of contributing to instigation of terrorism and violence.
Over the year, the government arrested several opposition
leaders and Human Rights activists. In May, Sheikh Ali Salman,
Secretary General of the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society,
was sentenced to nine years in prison. Opposition leader
Ebrahim Karimi was sentenced to two years and one month,
as well as to a fine, on charges of, among others, publicly insulting
the king. The authorities furthermore revoked his citizenship.
ivo
EGYPT (ISLAMIST GROUPS/SINAI PENINSULA)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 1992
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Ajnad Misr et al. vs. government
system/ideology
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
opposition groups, government
system/ideology, national power
175
The limited war over ideology between Ajnad Misr (AM) and
several other Islamist groups, on the hand, and the government,
on the other, continued. In 2016, at least 474 people
were killed and at least 139 injured. Among those killed
were at least 60 Egyptian Armed Forces (EAF) and Egyptian
National Police (ENP) forces, five civilians and 409 alleged
Islamist militants. The conflict was affected by the transnational
war against the so-called Islamic State (IS) [->Syria, Iraq
et al. (IS)]. The Egyptian branch of IS, Sinai Province, evolved
from the Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which
had pledged allegiance to IS on 14/10/11.
Throughout the year, the parliament approved presidential
orders to extend the state of emergency in North Sinai, the
area most hit by violence. On January 2 and January 4, EAF
killed 58 militants and destroyed several vehicles in raids in
the cities of al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, North Sinai
Governorate. On January 20, militants shot five policemen
dead and wounded three in an attack on a security checkpoint
in the centre of al-Arish. Using Apache helicopters in
al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah on February 6, EAF killed
ten militants and injured 13. Two days later, ENP forces shot
four members of AM dead in Cairo, Cairo Governorate, and
destroyed their weapons and vehicles. In an attack on asecurity
checkpoint in al-Badrashin, Giza Governorate, militants
killed one policeman and wounded two others on February
16. In response to an attack of IS' Sinai Province on a security
checkpoint on March 19, EAF killed 60 militants and
injured 40 during fighter aircraft-supported raids in the cities