ADF

Cameroon is working to deregister and sanction foreign vessels that illegally register with the country to avoid detection. These shadow fleet tankers often carry Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan oil and have long abused the country’s flag to avoid sanctions. The reforms include suspending new registrations of vessels operating outside Cameroonian waters and auditing the country’s shipping register. Cameroon is making the changes following pressure from the European Union and the International Maritime Organization. Authorities also are pushing to strengthen the country’s digital vessel registration process to reduce fraud and improve traceability. “Although commendable, these reforms alone cannot end the exploitation…

Over the past three years, insurgent groups across Africa increasingly have deployed weaponized drones against security forces, leaving militaries racing to develop methods to counter them. In 2025 alone, analysts recorded nearly 60 incidents of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) attacks, nearly triple the number from the year before. More than half of those attacks were conducted by Mali-based Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) deployed armed drones that same year against security forces in Cameroon and Nigeria. In Somalia, both al-Shabaab and Islamic State Somalia are working with Houthi…

Zimbabwean researcher Charles Moyo believes that Southern Africa is a region at a crossroads. While it enjoys peace and stability relative to the rest of the continent, it faces the threat of expanding terrorism from Islamic State affiliates in northern Mozambique and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Moyo, senior researcher and regional policy and research manager  at the Southern Africa Centre for Mediation and Extremism Prevention, said illegal gold mining is emerging as a security threat that violent extremist groups can exploit. “Zambia’s proximity to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique’s insurgency and cross-border mobility increases the…

The terrorist attack in April that killed Mali’s defense minister in his home added fuel to the notion that Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin could one day take control of the country. Over the last year or more, the group also known as JNIM has launched an economic blockade on the landlocked country that largely crippled the capital, Bamako. Its alliance with the Tuareg-based Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) drove government forces and Russian mercenaries out of the north of the country during the same operation that killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara. The attack that killed Camara in Kati, home to the…

Beijing’s official stance of neutrality and nonintervention in the paramilitary M23’s rebellion against the Congolese government is increasingly being challenged by the reality on the ground: a proliferation of Chinese-made weapons on both sides. China has several billion-dollar investments in cobalt, coltan and copper mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also supplies weapons to the DRC and neighboring Rwanda, which has been accused by the United Nations of backing the M23 militia. “China presents itself as a mediator in the region, and its embassy denies any arms sales to armed groups,” independent news website Beto wrote…

In a national address on June 12, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu praised security forces for the gains that they are making on the ground. Along with military goals, he emphasized that the path to peace will be paved with a multifaceted approach to counterterrorism. “Over 13,000 terrorists have been neutralized in the past year,” he said. “But we also keep the door of surrender open. Over 124,000 fighters and dependents have laid down their arms since 2023. Through Operation Safe Corridor we turn our former enemies into citizens.” Established in 2016, Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC) is a disarmament, demobilization and…

A group of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries have shifted their efforts to running a tramadol trafficking empire in the Central African Republic. Known as “poor man’s cocaine,” tramadol is a highly addictive stimulant and painkiller. Tramadol trafficked in the CAR, however, is far stronger than tramadol dispersed by legitimate pharmacies. Typically prescribed in 50- to 100-milligram doses, CAR tramadol is distributed at 200 milligrams or more. This can be used by workers toiling long hours in Wagner-controlled gold mines and is also used by fighters to combat fear, reduce pain and fuel long periods with little food or sleep. “In…

Stretched thin by rising security demands, militaries across Central Africa have turned to local militias for help fighting insurgents. However, those relationships are fraught with their own risks as militias turn against government forces or exploit and abuse the civilians they’re supposed to protect. The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan demonstrate the risks government forces take when they rely on local, often ethnically aligned militias to supplement their own troops. Empowering these militias can “create fertile ground for violence and exploitation with little accountability,” researcher Titilope Ajayi of the Institute for Security Studies…

As drones increase in importance to military operations, African tech entrepreneurs want to show that they can build an industry tailored to the continent’s unique needs. “We now are in a technological arms race against terrorists,” Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and CEO of Nigeria-based Terra Industries, told military leaders at the recent Africa Chiefs of Defense conference in Luanda, Angola. “We can’t keep relying on multimillion-dollar fighter jets to take out fighters on $2,000 bikes.” Founded in 2024, Terra Industries builds aerial and ground-based drones in Abuja, Nigeria. It recently announced plans to expand to a new facility in Accra, Ghana,…

Russian work at six Libyan air bases shows that Moscow is expanding its military foothold in North Africa, while transferring weapons, mercenaries and other fighters to war zones. Russia is planning, funding, building and offering personnel to complete infrastructure projects at six Libyan air bases: Al-Jufra, Al-Khadim, Al-Qardabiyah, Brak al-Shati, Maaten al-Sarra and Tamanhint, according to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Tearline Project. The air bases are scattered throughout the country and hold an array of military equipment, including air defense systems, MiG-29 fighter planes and drones. Russian military personnel and mercenaries operate them. Russia also reportedly plans to invest in…