ADF

More African governments are warning their citizens of the dangers of accepting bogus Russian scholarships, as many of the students who have accepted them have ended up conscripted into the Russian military and thrown onto the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine captured and held people from Togo after they participated “in military operations alongside Russian armed forces,” Togo’s foreign ministry said on May 2. “[The] majority of compatriots, in particular young students, had left Togo under alleged scholarships offered by structures claiming to be based in Russia.” The ministry called on citizens, “particularly young people who wish to…

The Nigerian Army’s recent raids on Boko Haram turned up satellite uplink technology indicating that the terrorist group is using the Starlink system to communicate with the wider world from its hideout in the Sambisa Forest. Troops confiscated the technology in July, along with mobile phones and weapons during the Operation Hadin Kai counterterrorism campaign in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa and Borno states. Starlink’s system of satellite uplinks and wi-fi routers has become widespread among terror groups operating across the vast spaces of the Sahel, where other communication infrastructure is rare. Since 2023, videos and images posted to social media have…

An attack by the Islamic State-Sahel Province using suicide drones targeting an army post in Eknewan near the border with Mali killed 64 soldiers and marked the continuation of a troubling trend. “According to military sources, the attack lasted nearly three hours,” security analyst Zagazola Makama reported of the May 25 attack on his website. “[It] was the first to involve the use of kamikaze drones by the assailants, marking a dangerous new phase in the security challenges facing Niger. The use of explosive-laden drones reportedly played a critical role in breaching defenses and inflicting heavy casualties.” Counterterrorism efforts in…

More than 700 million people live in the continent’s urban areas. That number is expected to double by 2050, when the number of African cities with populations of at least 1 million is expected to reach 159, up from 60 currently. Exploding urban populations carry critical security challenges as large numbers of younger, often underemployed people compete for limited resources. This can lead to a rise in criminal gangs and terrorist organizations, some of which have already plotted attacks on major cities. According to the Africa Center for Security Studies, 587 of 4,930 African cities recorded fatalities linked to organized…

In the 21st century, the age of conventional war has given way to the age of irregular warfare. Militaries still face off directly in conventional fighting, but it is far less common than irregular warfare, where the attacks are sporadic, asymmetric and hard to detect. African military forces today are facing threats from state and nonstate groups that employ cutting-edge technology in their attacks. Cyberattacks on state infrastructure are becoming common, and the weaponization of artificial intelligence and other new technologies is on the horizon. There is no such thing as a standard threat, so there should be no such…

Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef of Comoros, special representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson for Somalia and head of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia, addressed the United Nations Security Council in New York on October 3, 2024. His remarks have been edited for space and clarity. The recent months have witnessed a fluid security landscape in Somalia, characterized by progress and setbacks. The Somali Security Forces (SSF) intensified efforts to degrade al-Shabaab capabilities through improved targeted counterterrorism operations that led to the elimination of insurgent leaders and dismantling of several operational bases. Nonetheless, al-Shabaab has continued to deploy asymmetric…

Interpol arrested 306 people and seized 1,842 electronic devices across seven African nations in an international operation that targeted perpetrators of cyberattacks and scams. The international police organization worked from November 2024 to February 2025 to target banking, investment and messaging app scams. Operation Red Card sought to disrupt and dismantle cross-border criminal networks that harmed more than 5,000 individuals and businesses. Authorities in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia took part in the operation. Interpol worked through its African Joint Operation against Cybercrime. Authorities in Nigeria arrested 130 suspects, including 113 foreigners, who were accused…

Less than two years after Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, the two warring factions had killed more than 28,700 people, more than a quarter of whom were civilians. Half the population needed humanitarian aid, and nearly a third had fled their homes. Yet before bombs and bullets spilled blood and felled buildings, a hidden element of warfare already was wreaking havoc in Sudan’s cyber realm. Sudan has a history of shutting down internet access dating back to the Omar al-Bashir regime. As citizens protested for his removal in 2019, al-Bashir’s government partnered with Russian mercenaries to spread false…

Dr. Antwi-Boasiako is a cybersecurity expert who has worked in the public and private sectors for more than a decade. In 2011, he founded eCrime Bureau, West Africa’s first digital forensics firm. He served as a cybersecurity expert with the Interpol Global Cybercrime Expert Group and with the Council of Europe’s Global Action on Cybercrime Extended Project. In 2017, he was named Ghana’s National Cybersecurity Advisor and head of the National Cyber Security Centre. In this position, he helped craft Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act, which was passed in 2020. In 2021, he was named director-general of Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority, a…

Photos by Reuters Somalia, which has been engulfed in conflict since 2009, now has two systems struggling to exert control — the established federal, regional and local governments, and the extremist group al-Shabaab. Although fragmented by years of military defeats and infighting among its leaders, the al-Qaida-aligned group remains a major presence in Somalia, where it continues to try to impose its strict system of fundamentalist law. The group generates a tremendous amount of revenue, estimated at $100 million annually, compared to the $300 million collected by the national government. Al-Shabaab’s revenues support a well-armed network of 5,000 to 10,000…