Africa: ISWAP’s Next Frontier – Darak in Northern Cameroon

Located on the borders of Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad, Darak is valuable to local and national economies – and to violent extremists.

For over a year, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has been exerting pressure on communities and military positions in northern Cameroon’s Darak district. The group aims to extend its control beyond the Tumbuma Mantiqa region in northeast Nigeria, which serves as both a useful hideout and a fundraising hub.

Located in an isolated part of the Lake Chad Basin,…