ADF

ADF STAFF Mali’s ruling junta has repeatedly pledged to restore peace to the country after using the terror threat as justification for coups in 2020 and 2021. But violence in the country has risen steadily over the past year and it shows no signs of slowing. From mid-2022 to mid-2023, violent events linked to “militant Islamist groups” rose to 1,024, up from 862 such events over the previous time frame, according to a report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. The violent events, launched by terrorist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group (IS), include attacks on…

ADF STAFF As it works to secure the Gulf of Guinea from multiple threats, the Ghana Navy received $6.4 million in support from the U.S. government. The funding is part of a $48 million package for the Ghana Armed Forces. The funds are enough to cover two interceptor vessels, a new pontoon pier at the Ghana Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC), joint training exercises, a new mobile training center for NAVTRAC’s Special Boat Squadron, and the construction of new classrooms at the Nutekpor Basic School located near NAVTRAC. U.S. Naval Forces Africa will also help complete naval infrastructure construction projects and…

ADF STAFF The attempt by Burkina Faso’s ruling junta to rein in the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) group has produced few results and led to more military and civilian deaths even as the extremists have added to their own ranks, according to expert analysis. Extremists have committed an estimated 5,000 acts of terrorism in Burkina Faso since January 2022, when a coup led by Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba deposed then-President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. Damiba claimed to have launched the coup out of frustration at the government’s failure to stop terrorism. Eight months later, Damiba was overthrown…

ADF STAFF Armed men kidnapped at least 66 women, girls and babies who were out searching for food in northern Burkina Faso, near the Mali border, in early 2023. The victims were likely forced to scour the bush for food due to shortages linked to terrorist groups that cut off trade routes and supply lines. Rodolphe Sorgho, lieutenant governor of the Sahel region, condemned the attack, one of an increasing number of kidnappings around the Sahel region. “While they had gone out in search of wild fruits, these wives, mothers and daughters were unfairly taken by armed men,” Sorgo said…

ADF STAFF A dramatic rise in attacks by al-Shabaab extremists has scuttled plans to reopen the border between Somalia and Kenya, which closed in 2011. Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Minister Kithure Kindiki made several visits to the region in June and vowed to defeat the al-Qaida-affiliated group. “There is no turning back on this issue, but since we have witnessed increased attacks from the terrorists, we will delay the reopening for a short period to enable us to deal with the militants first,” he told local reporters, according to The Africa Report magazine. After the shutdown of multiple border entry points,…

ADF STAFF Ellen Pakkies’ son, Abie, started to change when he turned 13. He became violent and unpredictable: He was addicted to methamphetamine, known in South Africa as tik. Pakkies, who lives in Cape Town’s Lavender Hill community, ultimately killed her son in 2007 to escape the torture of living with his emotional outbursts, violent attacks, and demands for money to feed his addiction. Pakkies’ story shocked a nation — particularly the Western Cape region — that has become a hot spot for tik abuse and trafficking. In the highly publicized case, Pakkies received a suspended sentence and brought scrutiny…

ADF STAFF The Wagner Group has spread like a virus and infected the government, military and economic sectors of the Central African Republic (CAR) to the extent that experts say the country is now a laboratory of Russian influence. The mercenaries have made capturing the country’s diamond market a priority, stealing and smuggling the precious gems while killing anyone who gets in their way. One diamond dealer in CAR’s capital, Bangui, said Wagner fighters working jointly with the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) have focused on mining areas, where operations have increased since 2021. “There was a phase of intimidation,…

ADF STAFF Tanzanians Abdirahman Shaffi Mkwatili and Sadam Jafari Kitia were lost in northern Kenya, hundreds of kilometers off course when security agents arrested them on July 12. They had nearly reached the country’s border, but it was the wrong one. They were in the city of Moyale, which straddles Kenya’s border with Ethiopia. Their goal was to cross into Somalia and continue trekking to Jilib, a city well known as the headquarters of al-Shabaab. They were to be the newest additions, part of the terror group’s efforts to recruit beyond Somalia and Kenya. “They lost their direction to Somalia,”…

ADF STAFF Kenyan security forces have increased their operations along the country’s 680-kilometer border with Somalia in response to recent attacks by al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab, which has suffered repeated defeats by the Somali National Army (SNA), has launched attacks against targets in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda in retribution for those countries participating in ATMIS, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia. A string of al-Shabaab attacks against Kenya Defence Forces outposts in Garissa, Lamu and Mandera North counties forced the government to reverse its plans to reopen border crossings with Somalia. During one recent attack against a military outpost in Sirari,…

ADF STAFF The Wagner Group’s recent rebellion against the Russian military is certain to spur changes to the mercenary organization that will affect its operations in Africa. But whatever entity ends up controlling Wagner — or even if the mercenary group simply gets a new brand name and logo — it will not change the tactics Russia has used for years to spread influence and harvest resources in African countries. Using the Wagner Group as its proxy, Russia has been “testing and perfecting a nightmarish blueprint for state capture” in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to a new report…