Women play active roles in sustaining and facilitating extremist activities on the African continent.

With the war in Ukraine moving towards an uncertain resolution, there is a danger that the influx of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters could bring in a new set of imponderables into an already vicious and escalating conflict.

A conglomerate of elite jihadists called Malhama Tactical, a commercial enterprise driven by a for-profit agenda and not constrained by a specific ideology and defined enemies, has emerged as a serious threat as it can potentially connect and facilitate terrorist organisations worldwide.

The reported death of Abu Bakr Shekau may herald the imminent end of Boko Haram, but the impact of its heinous atrocities, particularly its use of female suicide bombers, has set a dangerous precedent for other terrorist groups to adopt.