ADF

Guinea-Bissau, a West African nation once known as a “narco-state,” intercepted 2.63 metric tons of cocaine just months after the United Nations reported that nearby Sahel states were emerging as significant drug trafficking routes.  Authorities in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger seized 1.47 metric tons of cocaine in 2022 compared to an average of 13 kilograms between 2013 and 2020, according to a 2024 report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “The involvement of various armed groups in drug trafficking continues to undermine peace and stability in the region,” Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC regional representative…

Africa is now the continent most affected by terrorism. Each day, an average of eight terror attacks results in 44 deaths. In certain parts of the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, the Horn of Africa and Mozambique, deadly violence is a near constant horror. In particular, the Sahel has emerged as the global terrorism epicenter, accounting for 47% of all deaths from violent extremism. Terror groups have capitalized on the region’s poor governance, ethnic divisions, coups and fractured regional security partnerships. Heavy-handed responses by military-led governments and a reliance on unaccountable mercenaries have done little to contain the problem and might…

When security forces in Puntland, Somalia, raided a vehicle convoy traveling south from Garowe, they confiscated a collection of drones capable of delivering explosives. The devices were similar to those used by Houthi rebels across the Red Sea in Yemen. So-called kamikaze drones are, in essence, flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They are typically low-cost, commercially available quadcopters capable of carrying a single explosive — often a mortar shell — that can be either dropped on a target or flown directly into it. Their presence in Somalia has raised the fear of expanded drone use by terrorist groups. Until recently,…

Photos by MINUSCA Lt. Gen. Humphrey Nyone has served in the Zambian military since 1994 and has held various roles, including commandant of the Defence Services Command and Staff College of Zambia, director-general for policy doctrine and strategy for the Zambia Army, and commander of the 1st Infantry Division. He previously served in United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone. He was appointed force commander for the U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in May 2023. He spoke to ADF by videoconference from Bangui. His remarks have been edited for space…

Photos by AFP/Getty Images Africa has by far the youngest population among the continents, with about 40% of its population — nearly 600 million people — 15 or younger. It’s the primary target audience for militant groups, and one of many reasons that experts say extremism in Africa has been so difficult to defeat. “Terrorist groups are finding a vulnerable, impressionable population to target,” Professor Barend Prinsloo told ADF. “Attacks on villages often involve the murder of older individuals, while young people are either physically taken captive or mentally indoctrinated. This massive, youthful demographic provides a virtually endless supply of…

The remote town of Birao, Central African Republic, sits close to the borders of Chad and Sudan. As a result, it has seen thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s civil war cross the border.  “I left with just my children and the clothes on our backs. Our possessions, our home, we had to leave it all behind,” a woman named Fatma told the United Nations Refugee Agency, recalling her journey from Nyala, in Sudan’s South Darfur State, to Birao. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the borders in search of safety since the Sudanese civil war began in April 2023.…

In the nearly two decades since the African Union launched its mission to stabilize Somalia, one weapon has wrought the most damage. Again and again, the terror group al-Shabaab has used improvised explosive devices to shatter peace, spread fear and derail progress.   Terrorists plant the bombs, also known as IEDs, on main supply routes, in crowded markets and everywhere in between. The United Nations Mine Action Service called these homemade bombs a “$20 problem requiring a million-dollar solution.” In 2007, the first year of the AU mission, 57 IED attacks were recorded in Somalia. In 2023, 600 IED attacks…

ADF STAFF | Photos by ATMIS In the yearslong war against violent extremism across Africa, countries have tried a range of approaches. Multinational United Nations peacekeeping missions have toiled in the Sahel and elsewhere for years, with mixed results. Similarly, African Union and other regional forces have worked tirelessly to bring peace and stability to places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Mozambique and Somalia. Each effort provides a frustrating mixture of successes and failures, advances and retreats. The limitations of military forces are clear: They can bring to bear lethal force and guarantee a degree of…

Tourism, nightlife and new businesses have returned around Mogadishu’s Lido Beach and throughout the city. But one Friday night in August 2024, as music blared and hundreds relaxed along the beach, a suicide bomber detonated his vest. Several gun-wielding extremists opened fire on the crowd.  “On the streets nearby, people were fleeing an all-too-familiar threat,” said a report from Channel 4 News. “Al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabaab said they carried out this attack, as they have so many others over nearly two decades. Somali police said three of the attackers were killed along with the suicide bomber and one taken into custody. A…

As 2024 ended, Sahel security remained dire. Terror attacks led by an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group were a near daily occurrence, and the region accounted for nearly half of all global terrorism deaths. At least 2.8 million people were forced to flee their homes, including 2.1 million in Burkina Faso alone. Extremist groups expanded control of territory inside the military-led countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and were threatening coastal states.  West African leaders called for a shared response to the crisis.  “The magnitude and complexity of the problem are alarming and require concerted action,” Dr.…