ADF

ADF STAFF A terror group’s campaign is more likely to escalate into a civil war when the state it operates in uses repressive tactics and when the group diversifies its attack strategies. Although about 70% of terror groups end their campaigns within a year of the first attack, some continue fighting for decades. A new report by researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, American University and DeSales University described why some insurgencies spark wider conflict. The report was published in the journal “Dynamics of Asymmetrical Conflict.” “Violent repression helps terrorist groups convince moderate members to wage a rebellion,” the researchers wrote…

ADF STAFF Experts say an Islamic State group affiliate’s recent actions in northeast Mali signal that the group has entered a new phase and believes it is unchallenged by the military-led government. The extremists seized the northeast Malian town of Tidermene on April 10 without a fight. They gathered residents, distributed leaflets and told them to prepare to pay zakat, an Islamic tax. “Now they are trying to govern,” France 24 terrorism expert Wassim Nasr said during an April 13 broadcast. “They are the same leaflets that were distributed in Syria back in 2014, meaning that we are in a…

أسرة منبر الدفاع الإفريقي ضبطت البحرية الغينية أكثر من 1.5 طن من الكوكايين على متن سفينة صيد قبالة سواحل البلاد خلال عملية تفتيش أجرتها في مطلع نيسان/أبريل. كشف تقرير صادر عن مكتب الأمم المتحدة لمكافحة المخدرات والجريمة أن الضبطية تميط اللثام عن اتجاه سائد في غرب إفريقيا، وذلك بضبط ما لا يقل عن 57 طناً من الكوكايين في المنطقة أو في طريقها إليها بين عامي 2019 و2022. ونجحت السلطات خلال تلك الفترة في ضبط 16.6 طناً من الكوكايين في الرأس الأخضر و4.7 طناً في السنغال و3.9 طناً في بنين. واعتبر التقرير دول غرب إفريقيا (ومنها بنين وساحل العاج وغانا وغينيا…

ADF STAFF The Guinean Navy found more than 1.5 tons of cocaine on board a fishing vessel off the coast during an inspection in early April. The seizure illustrates a trend in West Africa, where at least 57 tons of cocaine were seized in or en route to the region between 2019 and 2022, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Over that period, authorities seized 16.6 tons of cocaine in Cabo Verde, 4.7 tons in Senegal and 3.9 tons in Benin. The report labeled West African nations — including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire,…

ADF STAFF Who killed nine Chinese nationals at the Chimbolo gold mine in the Central African Republic (CAR)? The government of CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has promised to investigate the murders at the mine owned by China’s Gold Coast Group, which was attacked by gunmen a few days after it opened in March. The government has blamed foreigners for the attack as part of a complicated plot involving Chadian mercenaries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and former CAR National Assembly President Karim Meckassoua, who fled the country in 2021. The rebel group Coalition of…

ADF STAFF The killing of nine Chinese nationals in March at a mine in the Central African Republic may prompt China to increase security at its worksites in Africa. If this occurs, it’s likely China will turn to private security companies (PSC), which have a checkered history on the continent. Experts say China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, which employ tens of thousands of Chinese nationals and represent billions of dollars in infrastructure, could be high-profile targets for attacks by extremist groups. “In the last decade, China has recognized that sole reliance on the economic development of African countries…

ADF STAFF As Burkina Faso endures deadly attacks by extremist groups, the transitional government is enacting a controversial counterterror strategy that could put more civilians in harm’s way. Shortly after seizing power in September 2022, Burkina Faso’s military junta publicly campaigned to recruit citizens into the fight. Months later, eyewitnesses reported cases of forced recruitment. On April 13, the transition government announced its latest move, a “general mobilization.” Authorities issued an advisory giving junta leader Ibrahim Traoré “the right to requisition people, goods and services and the right to restrain certain civil liberties,” a security source told Agence France-Presse. A…

ADF STAFF After scoring key victories against Al-Shabaab in late 2022, Somalia has launched its second offensive against the extremist group with the goal of driving it out of the central and southern regions of the country. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced the new offensive in late March. Somali Soldiers and their tribal allies will use the experience they gained during the first offensive to make the second round of operations even more successful, the president said. “We have more experience than when we first entered the war in Galmudug and Hirshabelle states,” Mohamud said this year as the…

ADF STAFF Signs of hard-won incremental progress have appeared in Mozambique’s fight against the violent extremist insurgency that has plagued its northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017. Two years ago, the Battle of Palma marked an inflection point in the country’s approach to fighting the terrorists linked to the Islamic State group. At least 300 Ansar al-Sunna militants seized and terrorized the seaside city of 75,000 residents from March 24 to April 5, 2021, killing dozens of civilians and Soldiers, displacing tens of thousands, and destroying several buildings. The attack also threatened a $20 billion liquid natural gas project,…

ADF STAFF Troops with the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) marched through thick forest in the mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with their weapons ready. In the DRC’s North Kivu province, fresh fighting with M23 or Allied Democratic Forces rebels can erupt at any time. The UPDF deployed 1,000 Soldiers to the region in late March to join troops aligned with the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) in efforts to stabilize the country where more than 120 armed groups operate. Uganda now has about 9,000 troops fighting in the DRC, Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor reported.…