October 2024

ADF STAFF The 13th iteration of the East African Community’s (EAC) regional field training exercise, Ushirikiano Imara 2024, brought together regional partner nations to enhance capabilities among military, police and civilian components…

ADF STAFF By the time Burkina Faso’s health ministry declared an epidemic of dengue fever on October 18, 2023, there already were thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was the West African…

ADF STAFF Some analysts worried that Somali pirates were staging a comeback when a Maltese-flagged merchant ship, the Ruen, was hijacked off the coast of Somalia in December 2023, marking the first successful attack on such a ship in the…

ADF STAFF Maj. Gen. Simon Motswana Barwabatsile is commander of Ground Forces Command and is Joint Force commander for the Botswana Defence Force (BDF). He joined the BDF in March 1989 and rose through the ranks as a commander of armored…

As summer gave way to fall in 2021, the Ethiopian government found itself on the back foot against secessionist Tigrayan rebels, who had just captured the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha in the neighboring Amhara State. The strategic…

ADF STAFF  |  Photos by CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ARIF PATANI/U.S. NAVY Participants in exercise Cutlass Express 2024 jump into a swimming pool for diver training in Victoria, Seychelles, on February 29, 2024. Eleven African naval forces…

ADF STAFF As Russia’s Wagner Group expands its reach across Africa with promises of security and support for authoritarian leaders, nations that invited the mercenaries suffer from increased exploitation, violence and instability. …

ADF STAFF Spring 2023 was a tense time in Senegal. Protesters packed the streets of Dakar and, in a rare move, the Armed Forces deployed in the capital to maintain order. With tires burning, armored cars on street corners and Soldiers…

ADF STAFF A ransomware bug infecting computer systems across Africa is the latest evidence that criminals are using the continent as a testing ground for new attacks. The Medusa virus targets businesses and government agencies,…

ADF STAFF |  Photos by Reuters Recent seizures of illegal drugs in the Sahel indicate that the conflict-riddled region is becoming a busy route for drug trafficking. In 2022, authorities seized 1,466 kilograms of cocaine in Burkina…