ADF

ADF STAFF The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) was formed on April 1, 2022. By the end of its first year, it plans to begin drawing down troop strength. But as the country continues to be racked by near-constant attacks from extremists, some are rethinking the strategy. The mission’s current deadline for leaving the country is December 2024. “We cannot just pack up and leave,” Acting head of ATMIS Fiona Lortan told Kenya-based Nation Media Group. “By securing Somalia, we are securing the countries in the region.” Civilian casualties have risen in 2022 due to the al-Qaida-linked terror…

ADF STAFF Africa loses about 100,000 tons of fish every year to illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A new report by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) puts a price tag on the continent’s illegally caught fish at almost $11.5 billion annually. The study found that one-third of vessels engaged in illegal fishing in Africa are Chinese, while vessels from many other countries also use elaborate schemes to fish illegally on the continent. According to the coalition, eight of the world’s top 10 companies involved in IUU fishing are from China; the others are from Colombia and Spain. “Illegal fishing…

ADF STAFF As Burkina Faso tries to regain stability after the second military coup in nine months, the country is grappling with several key questions: What are the prospects for a return to civilian rule? How will the coups impact the fight against terrorism? Are more coups still to come? The answers to these questions will define the future of the country. Path to a New Government Since September 30 when Army Capt. Ibrahim Traoré seized power, domestic and international voices have called for a swift return to civilian rule. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had an…

ADF STAFF Where the Aruwimi River meets the Congo River in the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), residents of Basoko feel the effects of their country’s growing relationship with Chinese mining operations. Fisherman Michel Basosila once sold smoked fish upriver in the port town of Kisangani. Today, he sells cassava fufu. “This has become my only stream of income,” Basosila told Global Press Journal. “Today, I sell cassava fufu because fish have become too rare and too expensive, and I don’t make any profit.” Over the last decade, China has dramatically increased its presence in the…

ADF STAFF Angolan military medical personnel and the United States Army began an 11-day joint medical readiness exercise (MEDREX) in the capital, Luanda, that was scheduled for November 8 to 18. It was the first of six planned medical readiness exercises for fiscal year 2023 by the Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF). Brig. Gen. Dr. Filomena Buruti, director of Angola’s Principle Military Hospital/Superior Institute of Medicine, expressed her gratitude to be able to host the event. “This is a highly important exercise, because it is the first time this exercise is happening in Angola,” she said during the opening…

ADF STAFF Since Sudan’s military coup a year ago, the nation’s economy has been in turmoil. Economist Khaled Mohamed Ahmed believes the military’s extensive business interests play a significant role in the unrest. Ahmed told Sudan’s Radio Dabanga that, in his assessment, the coup was intended to protect the military’s business holdings at the expense of the population. Since the coup in October 2021, more than a quarter of Sudan’s 39 million residents face severe hunger, double the typical number for late in the year. Although hunger once primarily affected rural areas, it now has spread to cities. “We have…

ADF STAFF Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources is increasing patrol missions in its fight against illegal fishing. As part of the Agreement on Port State Measures, the first binding international agreement to specifically target illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Namibia also is conducting joint patrols with neighboring countries. “These patrol missions are undertaken to observe and eliminate illegal fishing activities and fine offenders who are found violating fisheries laws,” Uaripi Katjikua, spokeswoman for Nambia’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, told The Namibian newspaper. “In addition to regular patrol missions, special operations are conducted to target areas where reports…

ADF STAFF Touhoulia Elie slumped in his chair in the middle of Mbah-Laindé village in Cameroon as he spoke to a reporter. The young farmer lifted his shirt to show the scars on his back, a painful reminder of being kidnapped by extremists while he was harvesting crops. “When they brought me to their camp after days walking, they beat me, wounding me in the head,” he told AfricaNews website in an October 24 video. “Some of them smoked and put out their cigarettes on my back. “They wanted to hang me. They passed a rope around my neck and…

U.S. Africa Command Staff Sometimes it’s the unexpected threats that cause the most damage. A cyberattack can paralyze a nation’s power grid. Disinformation can send protesters to the streets and fuel civil unrest. Small, off-the-shelf drones can deliver deadly bomb blasts.  Known as hybrid threats, these attacks are difficult to detect or attribute to a specific group. Often, proxy actors carry out the attacks to hide their origin. They appear to be the work of a small band of local criminals but, in reality, a foreign power or extremist group is calling the shots from a distance.  These nontraditional attacks…

President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana spoke to Soldiers of the Botswana Defence Force at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone on July 26, 2021, as they prepared to leave for service in the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique. His remarks have been edited to fit this format. I stand here before you as the commander in chief of the Botswana Defence Force [BDF] and the current chairperson of the SADC [Southern African Development Community] Organ on Politics, Defence and Security. It is a formal institution of SADC, which was launched in June 1996 with a clear mandate…