In Africa's Sahel region, as elsewhere, al-Qaeda engages in un-Islamic carnage

Terrorist attacks across Africa's Sahel region cost nearly 4,000 people their lives last year, with the majority of them attributed to al-Qaeda, which has embarked on a killing spree on the continent that has repulsed religious authorities.

According to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel has become the epicenter of global terrorism, with more than half of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide occurring there for the first time.

As it seeks to conquer new ground after facing setbacks in Afghanistan and the Middle East, al-Qaeda has unleashed a campaign of terror in Africa, marked by suicide bombings, landmine explosions and indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Many of the innocent victims of al-Qaeda's violence in Africa are Muslim, religious scholars told Salaam Times, denouncing the group's distortion of Islamic principles to justify their violence as a fundamental violation of Islam.

"Al-Qaeda is a terrorist network involved in the mass killing of innocent people and unforgivable crimes," Badghis-based religious scholar Khayrullah Mohammadi told Salaam Times.

"While the killing of a single innocent human being is considered a grave sin in Islam, al-Qaeda has been complicit in the deaths of thousands," he said.

The group has severely tarnished Islam's global image by exploiting the religion for violent ends, Mohammadi said.

"Al-Qaeda is not a religious movement," he stressed. "It is a network of criminals whose specialty is killing and butchering people. For them, Islam is merely a tool used to pursue personal and political agendas."

The extremist group has promoted extremism within Muslim countries, he added, leading many astray from Islam's core values through its merciless killing of innocent civilians.

False defenders

Al-Qaeda's indiscriminate killing of Muslims belies its portrayal of itself as a "defender of Islam," analysts told Salaam Times.

The extremist group's decades-long campaign of violence demonstrates it has no scruples about pursuing power through terror, they said.

"Islamic ideology always has been a tool al-Qaeda uses to serve its personal interests," said Kabul-based political analyst Mohammad Amin Zirak.

"The group has interpreted Islam to its own benefit, while its actions completely contradict the religion's values and principles," he told Salaam Times.

"Through its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks, al-Qaeda has taken the lives of thousands of innocent people," Zirak said.

"These attacks do not distinguish between targets, and most of the victims are civilians, including women and children," he said.

This perversion of Islamic teachings and pursuit of violent self-interests have led groups such as Syria's Tahrir al-Sham to distance themselves from al-Qaeda, he said, noting that it continues to lose popularity worldwide.