Egypt’s Al-Azhar Observatory said on Wednesday that 50 terrorist attacks took place in Africa during August, making it the “bloodiest” month this year so far for the continent.

This is compared to 49 terror operations during July, the Observatory said in a statement.

The terror operations during August killed 460 people, injured 120 others and kidnapped 30 civilians and military personnel, the Observatory said.

Somalia's Al-Shabaab terrorist group has been the most active during August, the Observatory said, as it carried out 15 terrorist operations in Somalia and three in Kenya.

The operations carried out by the group killed 50 people and wounded more than 50 others, the Observatory added.

“The movement continues to intensify its terrorist activity to make gains on the ground on a daily basis,” the Observatory said.

It warned that the continuation of such operations may impose the group’s agenda as well as its political, social and religious goals on the Somali people, especially as the group seeks power.

“This is likened by some people to the Afghan scene,” the Observatory added.

It also referred to “unprecedented losses” the group bore as a result of military operations by Somali forces, backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

These military operations have killed around 430 terrorists in Somalia and caused the areas under their control to shrink, a matter that led some of the group’s members to turn themselves in to the Somali government, the Observatory added.

According to the eighth edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) published in 2020, Daesh’s (ISIS) affiliate groups have become especially prominent in sub-Saharan Africa, increasing deaths affiliated to the terrorist group.

The report says sub-Saharan Africa includes seven of ten countries with the largest rise in terrorism, which are Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Mozambique, Niger Mali, Cameron and Ethiopia.

Late in July, UN experts said in a report to the Security Council that Africa became the region hardest hit by terrorism in the first half of this year due to the spread of the ISIS and Al-Qaida groups and their affiliates.