ADF

ADF STAFF African maritime leaders joined their international counterparts in Sal Island, Cabo Verde, for the first African Maritime Forces Summit. The three-day summit in March 2023 was co-hosted by the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, Adm. Stuart B. Munsch. It brought together heads of navies, coast guards and naval infantries from 38 nations to discuss strategic and operational approaches to maritime security. “The security dynamics impacting African nations are shaping our present, and they will shape our future. Partnership can serve as the foundation to stability in Africa and growing prosperity for every African nation,” Munsch said. “This…

ADF STAFF Medical personnel from the Kenya Defence Forces and the U.S. Army concluded a two-day medical civic action program in Samburu County, Kenya, as part of humanitarian assistance efforts during exercise Justified Accord 2023. It marked the latest in a series of combined force medical outreaches between the two countries. “This is really a culmination of all the previous engagements, to improve upon them and continue to broaden and strengthen the relationships already forged,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Rhonda Dyer, a public health nurse. “The relationships already existed with individual nations, but this exercise has brought all the…

ADF STAFF In the seventh century, Islam began spreading from the Arabian Peninsula west to what is now Spain, and east to northern India. The religion and its political power spread through traders, pilgrims and missionaries.  It also spread through military conquests, with armies overwhelming vast territories and establishing imperial outposts. Most of this expansion came during the reign of the Rashidun Caliphate, the first four successors of Muhammad, from 632 to 661.  Conquering tribes also set their sights on North Africa. That is when they encountered Dihya, the Berber queen who lived in the mountains of what is now…

ADF STAFF The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is working to close 12 camps and one temporary operating base and hand them over to Malian authorities by the end of the year. MINUSMA personnel, totaling nearly 13,000, also are expected to leave the country by December 31. Civilian staffers will withdraw, and equipment, which includes about 5,500 sea containers and almost 4,000 vehicles, will be redeployed to other missions or returned to the countries that provided them. The first phase of the drawdown, which included the closing of three camps and the temporary base, began in…

ADF STAFF Joint operations by the Armed Forces of Mozambique (FADM) and partner militaries in August killed three leaders of the Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama’a (ASWJ) extremist group that has terrorized Cabo Delgado province for years. FADM “continues to be active in the safety and defense of Mozambique and Mozambicans,” the statement said. “However, at the moment, they are gathering more information about other movements about other [ASWJ] members, which will be made in due course.” The battlefield success happened shortly before the start of Gamba 2023, a training exercise meant to assess the preparedness of two Mozambican quick reaction forces…

ADF STAFF The clash between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is the latest eruption of military violence in a country that has experienced 35 coups or attempted coups since 1956. Some of the coups transferred power between military leaders. Others ended short-lived periods of democratic rule in the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. Sudan’s long history of military governments “has stood in opposition to the persistent struggle of the Sudanese people to midwife a democratic political order,” researcher Gashaw Ayferam wrote recently for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Like those previous coups and attempted…

ADF STAFF In his 39-year military career, Gen. Francis Ogolla has risen through the ranks, from pilot to air force commander and vice chief of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF). On April 28, 2023, Kenyan President William Ruto appointed Ogolla to lead the KDF as chief of defense forces. After his first 100 days, Ogolla already is thinking about the legacy he wants to leave — a more effective, more modern force. “When we realize that some of the equipment or strategies have some gaps, we modernize to close these gaps so that we are always capable of defending the…

ADF STAFF After two years of silence, Egypt and Ethiopia recently restarted talks about the management and potential downstream impacts of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which straddles the Blue Nile, the primary Nile tributary. Since it was announced, the $4.2 billion GERD has been divisive. Egypt sees the dam as a threat to the existence of the country, which gets 97% of its water from the Nile. Ethiopia sees the megaproject and the electricity it generates as vital to its economic future. Sudan is the third party in the talks but has expressed some support for the project…

ADF STAFF When Niger overthrew its civilian government in July, it joined a growing tally of West African nations that had done so, further complicating regional economic and security cooperation at a time when it is needed most. Before the recent coup, Niger’s multinational security cooperation was rich and varied: In 2014 and 2018, Niger hosted Exercise Flintlock, the largest counterterrorism training event on the continent. In 1998, Niger joined the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to ensure security in the Lake Chad Basin. Seventeen years later, the MNJTF expanded to field a force of 10,000 troops from Benin, Cameroon,…

ADF STAFF For almost 10 years, the Danab Brigade, a unit of the Somali National Army, has been countering al-Shabaab attacks and winning a reputation as an elite fighting force. Named after the Somali word for lightning, the 2,000-strong brigade was established in 2004 and initially was made up almost exclusively of people from the country’s poorest regions. Its public perception rising, the brigade in recent years has begun recruiting highly educated candidates. Safia Abdinur, a young physician, is among them. Inspired to join after her friend was killed in a bombing, she was one of 19 college graduates recruited…