ADF

ADF STAFF Smoke billowed above Tripoli in mid-August as rival militias vying for power engaged in two days of fighting that killed at least 55 people and wounded about 160. After months of relative calm in Tripoli, the violence erupted after Mahmoud Hamza, chief commander of the 444th Brigade, was captured at Mitiga Airport by gunmen with the Special Deterrence Force (SDF). SDF is the 444th Brigade’s chief rival and controls the airport. Both groups have vied for power since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Libya expert Tahani Elmogrbi said competition between the 444th Brigade and SDF has…

ADF STAFF In the video call, smuggler Phan Quan made it clear: He needed 20 metric tons of pangolin scales shipped to him in Vietnam. The authorities had seized his previous shipment. Unknown to him, Phan Quan was speaking with an undercover agent working with the Wildlife Justice Commission, a nongovernmental organization created in 2015 to disrupt criminal networks profiting from wildlife trafficking. The commission alerted the Nigeria Customs Service, which swooped down on Phan and his associates. Along with Phan, the sting also caught his boss, Phan Chi; another Vietnamese smuggler named Duong Thang; and Morybinet Berete, a Guinean…

ADF STAFF For nearly five months, forces loyal to Sudan’s warring generals have pounded each other and countless civilians caught between them, killing many and destroying large parts of Khartoum and its sister cities in the process. “The impact in the tripartite capital of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North has been devastating to civilians,” Suliman Baldo, executive director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, told ADF by email. “Most civilian casualties in the capital, and all major cities were killed by stray bullets and shells.” Since Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his rival general known as Hemedti launched their…

ADF STAFF Nothing could rattle the foundation of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group more than the death of founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. Yet even that dramatic news is not expected to significantly impact the group’s operations in Africa. “Based on experience and a look at Wagner’s past, it’s clear that it’s here to stay,” former Wagner commander Marat Gabidullin stated in a recent analysis for Foreign Policy magazine, co-written with analyst John Lechner. “In Africa, the Russian state needs Wagner more than Wagner needs the state. Wagner does not have a permanent structure; it morphs, adapting rapidly depending on the situation and…

ADF STAFF Nine months after a peace deal ended Ethiopia’s two-year conflict in its Tigray region, another violent confrontation is intensifying in the Amhara region. Fighting broke out in early August between the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and Fano, an ethnically Amhara militia that allied with the ENDF during the Tigray war. After Fano fighters seized some towns and districts, the federal government declared a six-month state of emergency on August 4. Temesgen Tiruneh, director-general of Ethiopia’s national intelligence service, was appointed to oversee enforcement of the state of emergency. “This robbery force is operating with the goal and…

ADF STAFF Security forces liberated parts of central and southern Somalia and handed over six forward operating bases to Somali security forces during the first phase of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia’s (ATMIS) troop withdrawal. During the first phase, which ended in June, 2,000 ATMIS Soldiers left the country: 400 each from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In July, military commanders of the five contributing countries attended a four-day strategic meeting chaired by ATMIS Force Commander Lt. Gen. Sam Okiding. The meetings are held every four months. “We discussed a wide range of issues, including the general…

ADF STAFF Dozens of people were killed and crucial infrastructure such as water, electricity and communication lines was damaged after days of fighting in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and nearby areas in mid-August. The Darfur Bar Association said the attacks were carried out by Arab militias driving vehicles supplied by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The attacks targeted a rival Arab group rather than non-Arabs. Several Arab groups have pledge allegiance to the RSF. Darfur’s violence — typically between Arab and non-Arab ethnic groups — has been fueled by the fighting that broke out in April between the…

ADF STAFF Mario Boris Fernandez pulled his artisanal fishing canoe ashore at Porto de Bandim in Guinea-Bissau. A longtime fisherman in Bissau, the national capital, he did not struggle with the weight of a large haul. That’s the upside of fishing all night and returning with little catch. “Two decades ago, when I started fishing here, our catches were so plentiful that I could take care of feeding, clothing and other social issues of my family, without any difficulty,” Fernandez told China Dialogue Ocean. “It’s now proving difficult to get the quantity and quality of fish we used to have.”…

ADF STAFF As recent military coups have swept aside civilian governments from Guinea to Sudan, one question lingers: When will those countries return to civilian or democratic rule? The answer, experts say, depends on how determined the military is to remain in power, particularly if it tries to rig elections to give leaders a veneer of democratic legitimacy. In some cases, junta leaders promise to hold elections and restore democracy within a defined period of time — three years in the case of Guinea and, more recently, Niger. However, a coup permanently damages a country’s political and social institutions. “In…

ADF STAFF The military junta that overthrew Niger’s democratically elected president claimed it was necessary to stop the extremist violence affecting that country and its Sahel neighbors. A few weeks later, 17 Nigerien soldiers died in an extremist attack near the Mali border. Niger’s junta, like those that overthrew governments in Burkina Faso and Mali, claimed that the military can solve the extremist problem that civilian leaders could not. Oumar Moctar, a leader of Niger’s Democratic and Republican Renewal Party, challenged that assessment. “The military council claims that it has turned against the regime of the ruling party due to…