Photo credits: "Oromo Liberation Front rebels" by Jonathan Alpeyrie. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – wikimedia advertisements New violences in Africa. Now it's the time of Mogadishu, Somalia, where an armed group called Al Shabab has attacked a hotel in the heart of the capital of Somalia.

Photo credits: "Oromo Liberation Front rebels” by Jonathan Alpeyrie. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – wikimedia

Someone talks about twenty victims. And in the same hour in Chad there was another massacre: a Boko Haram suicide-bomber blew himself up, causing the death of 11 civilians. These armed groups are pursuing Jihad through bloody massacres.

The explosions, kidnnappings and beheadings, which are increasingly intensifying, are contributing to a profound destabilisation of Africa that is already politically weak. In Somalia the clashes of Al Shabab, in Chad the massacres of Boko Haram.

Meanwhile, the International Community observes from a distance the blood and fightings that do not spare anyone. Often the headsmen of these terrorist groups are brought together and motivated by the principles of Jihad, which actually denies the absurdity of these horrors systematically committed. An exaltation of a death that leads to sanctity is completely illogical and immoral.

Meanwhile in Mogadishu people are dying. Last Sunday at dawn the capital of Somalia was awakened by the sound of explosions. The target of the attack was the Sahafi Hotel. A bus packed with explosives caused a real massacre. Twenty victims among innocent civilians, including many daily living the absurd everyday life of the attacks and the deep social tensions.

Among the victims there was also a journalist and a cameraman of Al Jazeera, the satellite television network based in Qatar, but also the former chief of army State in Somalia. Sunday’s attack in Mogadiscio threw back Somalia and the government of President Sheikh Mohamud in a state of terror, even if the social conditions of the country had recently improved.

Terrorism is a wound that can reopen at any time and destabilize the balance – often frail – of a country. It’s fondamental to think about the American September 11, which radically changed the face of the West in relation to global politics. And like what happened in Somalia, also Chad’s government led by Idriss Déby has also rediscovered last Sunday the violence of an armed group (Boko Haram).

Observing the almost total simultaneity of the terrorist acts in Mogadishu and Bougoma, it is important to ask what sophisticated and underground network survives in the shadows of this second chapter of terrorism, after the Al Qaeda’s Era. Meanwhile the Bougoma’s attack in Chad led to the death of 11 civilians. Another massacre that goes before the eyes of international public opinion.

Islamic State is a Contingent Threat to the African Continent

These are striking examples of how the Islamic State is flaring up violently in Africa and how it is hindering economic and political progress as well as violating the respect of human rights. The shadow of the Caliphate is now rooted in these territories, at least from what can witness from the headlines.

The presence of a war is a very obvious factor, along with the blood, the death tolls and the number of attacks reported by world newspapers. What will the future be for Africa? Today we must examine the present in light of the recent attacks in Somalia and Chad. And tomorrow?