By Michael Harrington |

Reliable international security intelligence has revealed that Jihadists concentrated in Mali’s terrorists’ terrain are re-strategizing in their attempts to gain serious foothold in West Africa where they are ideologically bent on establishing caliphates. Intelligence sources say Sierra Leone and Liberia have become the new quest for these groups because of security vulnerabilities, poverty and lax immigration or migration screening policies and activities.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
A caliphate is a territory under the leadership of an Islamic steward known as a caliph, a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community.
Historically, the caliphates were polities based in Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three major caliphates existed: the Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate and the Abbasid Caliphate.
Source: Globe Afrique Media