ADF

ADF STAFF The Ilemi Triangle is a sparsely populated, poorly demarcated tract of land on the border between Kenya and South Sudan. For years analysts have warned that this small, arid region has the potential to drive cross-border conflict. However, Kenya and South Sudan are taking steps to define control over the Ilemi Triangle that could provide a model for how other African countries can resolve border disputes, experts say. The Triangle, which covers between 10,000 and 14,000 square kilometers, is a legacy of poorly drawn colonial boundaries. Multiple surveys between 1902 and 1950 created four different configurations for the…

ADF STAFF Authorities seized 3,000 rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and antitank missiles from a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman on January 15. The Iranian weapons were destined for the Houthi militia in Yemen. Eleven days earlier, 2,000 assorted Iranian weapons bound for Yemen were intercepted on a fishing vessel in the same area, according to the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC) in Madagascar. Without vessel information the RMIFC shared with local authorities, some of the weapons might have wound up in Somalia and sold to violent extremist groups such as al-Shabaab and the Islamic State…

ADF STAFF Protesters in Sudan’s Red Sea State continue to call for the Sudan Armed Forces to shut down a gold mine it operates within the Dordeib military base. The protests are the latest public outcry against the practices of the country’s military-dominated gold mining industry. “We have been wondering how it is possible that mining plants have been established inside an army base, and why the army diverges from its real tasks and sets up commercial enterprises instead,” one protester told Sudan’s Radio Dabanga. Sudan’s military is deeply involved in the country’s economy, from gold mines to farm fields…

ADF STAFF Tension is escalating in northern Mali, where a fragile peace plan is teetering on the verge of collapse. The Tuareg rebellion ended in 2015 with the Algiers peace accord, but because it has never been fully implemented, the conflict between former rebels and the government has festered. With Mali’s military junta taking a more adversarial approach in recent months, some fear that violent confrontations are on the horizon. Amadou Albert Maïga, a member of the National Transition Council that acts as a legislative body for the unelected government, recently said the Malian army would act soon. “War is…

ADF STAFF Mozambican Minister of National Defense Cristóvão Chume was surrounded by a small group of reporters and Soldiers when he delivered a message to the people of Muidumbe village about the resilience of Cabo Delgado’s insurgent forces. “They live here in the community, maybe some are in here right now,” he said on February 21 with a wave of his hand toward a larger group of onlookers who stood and sat in the shade, just outside of the impromptu media scrum. “But we are catching them. We will not rest until we catch them all.” Five days later, 10…

ADF STAFF Ugandan military officers will soon have the opportunity to pursue a doctorate in Defense and Security Studies as part of an expansion of degree opportunities by the National Defence College. Maj. Gen. Henry Matsiko, chief political commissar of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), announced the new degree during a recent celebration of the first 49 officers to graduate with bachelor’s degrees in Defence and Security Studies from Makerere University in Kampala. “This is a historic moment in the professionalization of the UPDF,” Matsiko said. By sponsoring officers to earn a university degree in defense and security, military…

ADF STAFF Holding his baby on his shoulders with one hand and a large bag of clothes for his family of eight on the other, Safari Hangi led the way to safety, walking alongside a dirt road toward the capital of North Kivu province. The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is brimming with rebels, security forces and refugees. All are on the move. The M23 rebellion reignited more than a year ago and, in early 2023, rebel advances left hundreds of civilians dead. The rebels are accused of massacres, rape, forced recruitment and other atrocities.…

ADF STAFF Swarming, indiscriminate attacks in the Sahel region. Suicide car bombings in Somalia. Villages burned in Mozambique. Islamic violence killed more than 19,100 people in Africa in 2022, a 48% increase over the previous year. That is according to a new report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), which showed that violent extremist groups committed 6,859 attacks in Africa last year, a 22% increase over 2021. The increase in militant Islamist-linked fatalities was marked by a 68% increase in fatalities involving civilians. Last year’s death toll eclipses the previous peak of 18,850 fatalities linked to militant Islamists…

ADF STAFF A day after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster over flooding that affected seven of the country’s nine provinces, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) announced it will establish a unit dedicated to disaster management countrywide. Through the unit, the South African Army will lead responses to disasters. Soldiers were already responding to flood victims in affected provinces while safeguarding utility infrastructure, said SANDF chief Gen. Rudzani Maphanywa. The unit will have its own resources specific to disaster management. “The boats and the aircrafts that I [currently] take to go and respond…

ADF STAFF Groundbreaking began on new facilities at the G5 Sahel Defense College on February 14 in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Once complete, the addition will include an expanded library, classroom space, a 20-seat language learning lab, and computers and audio translation equipment. The $5 million project funded by the U.S. government is expected to take one year to complete. “When it is finished in 2024, the library will provide dedicated space for regional military officers to advance their academic and English skills,” said U.S. Ambassador Cynthia Kierscht. “Equally important, the library will be a physical symbol of two important roles of…