The conflict in Syria has become a rallying point for jihadists from around the world. More than 20,000 foreign fighters are fighting or have fought in Syria, and most are part of jihadist groups, including Jubhat al Nusra (JAN) and Islamic State (IS). North Africa has provided a large portion of these foreign fighters, from countries as diverse as Morocco and Libya. Who are these North African fighters, and why are they going to Syria? What do they hope to accomplish there, and do they want to return to their home countries?

The looting of Libya’s massive stocks of weapons and ammunition was one of the most significant arms proliferation events of the 21st century. Anti-government forces seized tens of thousands of small arms, light weapons and other munitions, and thousands more were left unguarded in abandoned storage facilities. These weapons have fuelled crime and conflict in Libya and throughout North Africa.

The increasingly sophisticated arsenals of guided light weapons held by non-state actors pose an international security threat. Such systems—man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) and anti-tank guided weapons (ATGWs)— are operable by a single user or a small crew, and the weapons' missiles are either manually targeted or self-guided after launch. These weapons have been used by armed groups to attack commercial airlines, military aircraft, and governmental targets, as well as to degrade military and peacekeeping operations worldwide.

In 2013, the Small Arms Survey  estimated that there are around 440,000 civilian firearms in circulation in Nepal, only 55,000 of which are legally registered. The availability of firearms in the country is moderate by international standards, but the concentration of small arms in the hands of criminal groups poses a threat to law and order that has yet to be fully assessed and addressed.

After Qaddafi’s death and the subsequent declaration of independence in October 2011, Libya’s transitional authorities faced enormous challenges in the control and management of the various armed groups formed to fight the regime.

Competing interest groups within three institutions—the army, the Supreme Security Committee (SSC), and the Libya Shield Forces (LSF)—engaged in fierce power struggles over the future of the security sector. By October 2014, these power struggles gave rise to two rival governments, two military leaderships, and two very distinct claims to legitimacy. 

Insecurity, armed groups, and firearms are issues that still dominate news reports on Libya today, three years after the armed conflict that swept the country in 2011. The ongoing instability is a stark reminder that Libyans’ aspirations for freedom and prosperity will require more time and effort to realize. Despite the media attention, however, there is comparatively little focus on the Libyan population’s own interpretation of what is happening in their country.

The proliferation and misuse of small arms, light weapons, and their associated ammunition in situations of armed conflict have been important concerns for the international community for the last 20 years. Yet it is only more recently that specific knowledge about the models and origins of the small arms circulating in conflict zones has emerged.

More than a decade of instability and armed conflict in Côte d’Ivoire has resulted in the proliferation of weapons and ammunition held by both the government and the Forces Nouvelles rebel movement.

In vast areas of East Africa, violent conflict involving pastoralist communities, and exacerbated by the prevalence of firearms, has resulted in large-scale death and injury, as well as the impoverishment of entire communities.

Many communities reliant on agro-pastoralism are situated in the Karamoja Cluster and in the Horn of Africa. The Karamoja Cluster comprises the border regions of south-western Ethiopia, north-western Kenya, south-eastern South Sudan, and north-eastern Uganda; the Horn of Africa is made up of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

On the Edge? Trafficking and Insecurity at the Tunisian–Libyan Border, by Moncef Kartas, investigates how the Libyan armed conflict and its aftermath have affected the security situation in Tunisia, particularly in light of the circulation of firearms and infiltrations by armed groups.