ADF

Nigerian authorities killed more than 200 bandits in early January during an attack on a camp in central Kogi State. The region has become a new focal point in the government’s campaign to rein in three security threats: banditry, Islamic terrorism and separatist campaigns. The action in Kogi State demonstrates how banditry has begun to spread into the heart of the country, bringing with it mass kidnappings and school attacks that have inflamed public opinion in the past. In November, a criminal gang abducted more than 300 students and teachers from a boarding school in Papiri in Niger State. The…

February 18 will mark one year since Zambia was hit by one of the worst environmental disasters in its history. But for activists like Nsama Kearns, the fight to fix the damage is only getting started. At least 51 million liters of toxic waste poured from a Chinese-owned copper mine into the Mwambashi stream that day, and officials reported signs of pollution more than 100 kilometers downstream on the Kafue, Zambia’s longest river and a primary source of drinking water for much of the country. Independent experts hired by the government shared their findings of the spill’s impact at a…

Tunisia has received counterterrorism equipment worth $1.4 million from the United States government, a move thatbolsters the countries’ security partnership. The items were delivered in mid-December under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program (ATA), which provides counterterrorism training and equipment grants to law enforcement, helps partners address security challenges, defend against threats to national and regional stability, and deters terrorist operations. The U.S. Embassy in Tunisia did not specify the exact nature of the equipment. “The enduring US-Tunisia security partnership strengthens the safety and security of both countries and advances regional stability,” the embassy said. In 2025, Tunisia received two 34-meter,…

As 2025 ended, military leaders deposed elected governments in Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar. A putsch attempt in Benin failed after regional security forces and the Nigerian Air Force intervened. Those coups and the Benin attempt came after a series of military coups in Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Sudan. A 2024 attempt failed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Analysts say Africa appears to be living through a coup epidemic as 11 countries have experienced military takeovers since 2020, driven largely by discontent with economic insecurity and political instability. “Many African governments, whether they are democratic or…

Since the beginning of 2025, Nigerian authorities have arrested hundreds of Chinese nationals in connection with cybercrime syndicates operating in the country. In August, 60 Chinese nationals were among more than 100 people deported by Nigeria after their convictions on cyber terrorism and internet fraud charges. Most of those convicted were running online romance scams aimed at persuading their victims to invest in a fake cryptocurrency, according to Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). “The fight against cybercrime is being pursued with renewed intensity, and we are working with global partners to ensure these networks are dismantled,” the EFCC…

Shortly after Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terrorists imposed a Bamako fuel blockade in September 2025, Mali’s junta leader chose a senior National Guard officer to lead the fight against the group. Gen. Assimi Goïta appointed Brig. Gen. Famouké Camara, 47, to head the autonomous Operation Fuka Kènè, which means “clearing” in Bambara. It is the centerpiece of Goïta’s strategy to win the so-called fuel war, according to The Africa Report magazine. Camara integrates military strategy and logistics to improve convoy protection, which aligns with Mali’s military-first counterterrorism approach, the magazine reports. His appointment also marks a shift toward unified…

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was serving as an election observer in Guinea-Bissau when a group of military leaders declared a coup — the latest upheaval in the West African country’s tumultuous history. Shortly after soldiers appeared on the streets of the capital, Bissau, and gunfire rang out around his residence on November 26, 2025, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló told media outlets that he had been deposed. Jonathan was among many who questioned the timing of staging an uprising the day before election results were to be announced. “This was not even a palace coup,” he told reporters. “It was…

Videos of fuel tanker trucks burning on Malian roads began appearing on social media in September 2025, signaling the beginning of coordinated attacks by militants trying to blockade the capital, Bamako. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an umbrella group of terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida, had entered a new phase of economic warfare in its quest to destroy Mali’s ruling junta. On October 28, 2025, JNIM fighters ambushed dozens of tankers on roads leading to Bamako. In the city of Kati, the junta’s primary stronghold just outside the capital, a key Army garrison was unable to respond due to a lack…

To help address increasingly complex security challenges, the Nigerian Navy has begun training to support security forces involved in land operations, including those that confront Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province. During Exercise Wash Down in November 2025, Rear Adm. Victor Choji, commandant of the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School in Onne, Rivers State, described the country’s security landscape as volatile and ambiguous. “We find ourselves in a situation where our training strategies must reflect these realities,” Choji said in a report by Nigeria’s Ugama TV, an online television news channel. “Therefore, the Nigerian Navy has added…

The Mersin, a Turkish-owned oil tanker that recently had visited a Russian port, was hit by four explosions while at anchor in waters off Dakar, Senegal, on November 27. No one was injured, and no pollution was reported. The Panamanian-flagged ship, which held 39,000 tons of fuel, is suspected to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of aging commercial vessels used to evade Western sanctions on oil exports and, experts say, traffic arms to African conflict zones. The attack was believed to be carried out by Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Moscow invaded in February 2022.…