September 2023

ADF STAFF Since the outbreak of violence in Sudan in April, the flow of weapons smuggled into the heavily armed country has become a flood. “We used to receive a shipment every three months, but now we’re getting one every two weeks,”…

ADF STAFF Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, the leader of Islamic State group (IS) in Sudan, secretly finances his operations through businesses in Turkey, according to a recent report by the United Nations. Investigators reported to the U.N. Security…

ADF STAFF In August 2022, an audio recording went viral on WhatsApp and social media networks in Burkina Faso. The message called on “indigenous” Burkinabé to rise up and exterminate members of the Fulani ethnic group. Lionel Bilgo, a…

Maj. Gen. Hendrick Thuthu Rakgantswana became chief of Botswana’s Air Arm Command in 2021 after serving in the Air Force since 1986. Rakgantswana has served as squadron commander of the Fixed-Wing Air Mobility Squadron and has piloted the…

ADF STAFF Northeast Nigeria’s famed Sambisa Forest is known for its low-profile trees and dense thickets, punishing anyone foolish enough to traverse it without a machete. It spreads across 512 square kilometers in Borno State and has…

African nations have spent years working to equip Somalia’s fledgling government to achieve stability. As the African Union peacekeeping mission gave way to the AU Transition Mission in Somalia, the work has continued. Women have been an…

ADF STAFF Modern fighter jets are marvels of power and complexity. Armed with air-to-air missiles, they can reach speeds of 1,600 kilometers per hour. They are also stunningly expensive. The current generation of fighter jets start at…

As South Sudanese peacekeepers walked off a Kenya Air Force C-27J Spartan military transport aircraft in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), they were fulfilling a pledge.  South Sudan’s president had promised to send 750 troops…

ADF STAFF Nigeria deploys drones at border crossings to increase security along its porous frontier and to identify potential threats while they’re still several kilometers away. The Orion drones, manufactured by the French-American…

ADF staff The South African Air Force is one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its fighter jet fleet is among the most advanced overall on the continent, consisting of Saab JAS 39 Gripens. The air fleet includes 15 attack…