Islamist militants in West Africa

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolts, the fight against militant Islam in this moderate swath of Africa has gained fresh urgency.

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Aug. 7, 2012

Fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) stand guard in Gao, northern Mali. Burkina Faso's foreign minister, Djibril Bassole, the lead mediator in regional efforts to end unrest in Mali, told rebels there that they had to cut ties to "terrorist movements" such as al-Qaeda before any peace talks could begin. Today, the Islamist militants in Mali have imposed strict laws reminiscent of the Taliban in Afghanistan, banning television and soccer and ordering women to wear full-length robes.

Reuters /

June 16, 2012

Militiamen from the Islamist group Ansar Dine, who said they had come from Niger and Mauritania, ride on a vehicle at Kidal in northeastern Mali. The leader of Ansar Dine in northern Mali has rejected any form of independence of the northern half of the country and has vowed to pursue plans to impose sharia law throughout the West African nation.

/ Reuters

Aug. 9, 2012

A pickup truck belonging to the Islamist group Ansar Dine is show loaded with weapons at Kidal Airport in northern Mali. Mali's government said that military intervention in the militant-held north was "inevitable" as the jihadists defied mediation efforts.

Romaric Hien / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 23, 2012

Men push a cart with goods in Kano, Nigeria, following recent sectarian attacks in January by the radical Islamist sect called Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north. The sect has its sympathizers: Some families are refusing to vaccinate children because they view it as a Western conspiracy or have stopped sending girls to school.

Sunday Alamba / AP

April 11, 2012

People wait with their baggage beside a truck in the hope of finding a passage to flee Timbuktu, Mali. Amid the political upheaval following a March 21 coup, separatist rebels in northern Mali declared an independent state that is larger than France. The power vacuum also has allowed an Islamist faction that wants to impose sharia law in the area. The streets of Timbuktu have emptied since Tuareg separatist rebels took power in April as residents, fearing further fighting or the impact of sharia law, flee south.

/ AP

Jan. 21, 2012

A man walks through the ruins of a police headquarters after a bomb attack in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, where more than 100 people were killed in bomb attacks and gunfights in a strike claimed by Boko Haram. Most southerners depend on northern Nigeria for goods, but the lawlessness there, border closings and intensified security searches have driven up prices of staple foods, such as millet, by 60 percent.

/ Reuters

May 17, 2010

A nomad from the Tuareg tribe of the Sahara desert brings his herd for vaccination to a team of U.S. Special Forces handing out aid near the town of Gao in northeastern Mali. With almost no resistance, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is implanting itself in Africa's soft tissue, choosing as its host Mali, one of the poorest nations on Earth. Although AQIM's leaders are Algerian, it has recruited people from Mali, including 60 to 80 Tuareg fighters.

Alfred de Montesquiou / AP

March 21, 2012

Boko Haram attacks against churches, banks and government institutions in northern Nigeria are triggering economic turmoil in southern Niger. Weapons and ammunition, along with police uniforms and bulletproof vests, recovered from suspected Boko Haram sect members are shown in Kano, Nigeria.

Salisu Rabiu / AP

May 1, 2012

U.S. and U.N. officials are worried that the arsenal of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, including rocket-propelled grenades, light antiaircraft artillery and shoulder missiles, could end up in the hands of Boko Haram and AQIM. The end of Gaddafi’s regime in Libya sent thousands of Tuareg fighters who fought for him, along with massive arsenals of weapons, into northern Mali, their ancestral home. Here, soldiers stand near the body of a suspected member of Boko Haram after a raid by soldiers in Kano, Nigeria.

Salisu Rabiu / AP

May 1, 2012

Mothers and children of suspected members of the sect known as Boko Haram sit outside their homes after a raid by soldiers in Kano, Nigeria.

Salisu Rabiu / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03714567 A Thai Buddhist family take an offering of lotus flowers to pay respects to a giant Buddha surrounded by more than 1,000 smaller Buddha statues at a Buddhism Park, on Vesak or Visakha Bucha day, in Nakhon Nayok, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 May 2013. Buddhist devotees throughout the world offer blessings at temples to mark one of the holiest days in Buddhism, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha. EPA/BARBARA WALTON

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A portion of the Interstate 5 bridge is submerged after it collapsed into the Skagit River dumping vehicles and people into the water in Mount Vernon, Wash., Thursday, May 23, 2013 according to the Washington State Patrol. (AP Photo/Skagit Valley Herald, Frank Varga)

I-5 bridge collapse in Washington state dumps vehicles, passengers into river

No fatalities reported; collapse over Skagit River shuts down main route between Seattle and Canada.

SILVER SPRING MD: MAY 18
from left to right, Bodybuilders Jorge Villatoro, Sidney Bumbrey, Eric Holmes and Ron Coleman show off their most muscular poses for the judges at the 2013 Musclemania - Capital Tournament of Champions Contest held at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, Maryland on May 18, 2013.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Flexing their muscles

Dozens of bodybuilders came out to Silver Spring to compete in the 2013 Musclemania Capital Tournament of Champions.

epa03714543 US actress Carmen Electra arrives for the Life Ball gala, at the airport Schwechat, in Vienna, Austria, 24 May 2013. The 21th Life Ball, an annual fundraising charity event for HIV and Aids projects, takes place at the Vienna City-Hall on 25 May 2013. EPA/HERBERT NEUBAUER

Eye on entertainment

Carmen Electra, Barbara Eden, Sharon Stone, Goldie Hawn, Jaden Smith and more.

A police forensics officer investigates a crime scene where one man was killed in Woolwich, southeast London May 22, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his government's emergency Cobra security committee after the killing of a man in south London, his office said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Terrorism cited in London cleaver attack

Two assailants hacked to death a British soldier on a busy southeast London neighborhood street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an apparent...

MOORE, OK - MAY 24: A 'For Sale' sign hangs in a tree in a storm ravaged neighborhood on May 24, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. The tornado of EF5 strength and two miles wide touched down May 20 killing at least 24 people and leaving behind extensive damage to homes and businesses. U.S. President Barack Obama promised federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Assessing tornado damage in Oklahoma

Amid great destruction, residents of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore begin to assess the severity of the twister that hit Monday.

WASHINGTON DC: MAY 22
Contestant Travis Rumans, 31 dances with his beloved glow sticks for talent at Penn Social in Washington, DC on May 22, 2013. The contestants help raise over $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The Mr. DC pageant is a fundraising event to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
The qualifications for the Mr. District of Columbia finalists is that they must live, work and attend school in the District of Columbia between the ages of 21-30 who are unmarried, intelligent, and dapper in a suit.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Mr. D.C. Pageant contestants compete for charity

Contestants in the Mr. D.C. Pageant, a fundraising event, helped raise more than $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

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