ADF

ADF STAFF The Tanzania Navy deployed a vessel in the Mozambique Channel to help the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and international partners address an array of sea crimes, including illegal fishing, drug smuggling, oil theft, and human and weapons trafficking. Although piracy has declined in the region, limited maritime security along the channel leaves coastal cities and island states vulnerable to maritime threats. The channel, a 1,600-kilometer-long waterway between Madagascar and East Africa that carries about 30% of global tanker traffic, is a major route for drug, weapons and human trafficking, illicit trades that are widely believed to help…

U.N. PEACEKEEPING The Egyptian Formed Police Unit, deployed in Douentza, Mali, as part of the U.N. mission (MINUSMA) in 2017, set up three teams to tackle the threat of improvised explosive devices (IED). One of them was composed entirely of female police officers and was the first such search and detect team deployed in a U.N. peace operation. The teams are trained to identify IEDs so that ordnance disposal experts can safely remove them. The Douentza team worked close to dirt roads used by civilians who often are targeted by terrorists and armed groups. From 2020 to 2021, the country…

U.N. PEACEKEEPING To fulfill their mandate of protecting civilians, peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) often face danger in remote areas, with limited access to medical services. A light mobile surgical module deployed with the Malawi Battalion has significantly improved the safety and security of peacekeepers. Operating 24 hours a day, the light mobile surgical module has a static and mobile component run by 31 peacekeepers. The static component works as a referral medical center for Level 1 hospitals and has an operating theater, emergency area, radiology, laboratory, pharmacy…

Failures of United Nations peacekeeping missions have been highly publicized, but recent studies show reason for optimism. The evidence, collected in 16 peer-reviewed studies, shows that peacekeepers significantly reduce civilian casualties, shorten conflicts and help make peace agreements stick. In fact, the majority of U.N. peacekeeping missions succeed in their primary goal, which is stabilizing societies and ending war. “If we look systematically across the record, most of the time peacekeeping works.” That’s the verdict of Professor Lise Howard of Georgetown University. Her book, “Power in Peacekeeping,” is based on extensive field research across different U.N. missions. “If we look…

ADF STAFF Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and his Guinean counterpart Felix Lamah have signed a letter of intent, the first step in the two countries’ commitment to explore cooperation in the aviation sector. It is an unusual proposition, as the two countries are 13,700 kilometers apart. The initial idea for the cooperation came in September 2022, according to aerospace newsletter The Bulletin. Guinea acknowledged its need to modernize its commercial and transport sector and expressed interest in cooperating with Indonesia. In a written statement, the Indonesian transport minister said that after receiving the Guinean transport minister in Jakarta,…

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…