ADF

ADF STAFF In August, terrorists in Mali killed 42 Malian Soldiers in an attack that combined artillery and truck bombs with the use of airborne drones. Across Africa, drones — both sophisticated military hardware and off-the-shelf hobby models — are changing the nature of conflicts. Experts fear that extremist groups are working to acquire them and use them for asymmetric attacks. “Until recently, drones were used exclusively by state actors in Africa,” researcher Ezenwa Olumba recently wrote in an article published by the London School of Economics’ Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa. “Recent reports regarding the use of drones [by…

ADF STAFF Ugandan public health officials are hoping that communication as well as aggressive action will help control the spread of Ebola. Authorities locked down the Mubende and Kassanda districts along the busy highway connecting Kampala with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Along with that measure, public health officials continue to work to dispel misinformation and persuade anyone who may have contracted the disease to seek treatment immediately. “In Ebola outbreaks, too many people still arrive at health centers with advanced disease or even die at home, infecting others in the process. This is what we need to avoid,”…

ADF STAFF With Ebola cases continuing to rise in Uganda, health officials are looking to the lessons learned from the 2014-16 West Africa outbreak to guide their strategy. Mosoka Fallah, program manager for saving lives and livelihoods at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has deep experience from the front line of the West African fight. He said Uganda has a few advantages as it fights the outbreak. The country has well-trained medical staffers and good health infrastructure. It also has responded to four previous Ebola outbreaks, which gives it experience. “Health systems are as effective…

ADF STAFF Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, revealed that he cannot help family members who are starving in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. “I have many relatives there,” he said during an emotional news conference after fighting reignited in August following several months of relative calm. “I want to send them money. I cannot send them money. They are starving. I know I cannot help them. They are completely sealed off. I can’t speak to them.” The Ethiopian government has isolated the northern Tigray region, blocking telecommunications, electricity, banking, media coverage and much of the humanitarian aid…

ADF STAFF One way to curb illegal fishing might be to fine flag states for what their ships do thousands of kilometers away. A new report suggests that coastal states should consider going after flag states in court for a vessel’s misconduct in their waters. A flag state is where a vessel is registered.  A coastal state is the country where the fishing actually takes place, and it issues the authorization or license to fish there. For example, if a Russian-flagged vessel is operating within Ghana’s exclusive economic zone, Russia is the flag state and Ghana is the coastal state.  Advocates…

ADF STAFF Extremist groups are again trafficking weapons from Libya and other sources into the Sahel, signaling a potential escalation of violence. Analysts say the increase comes after a period of relatively low trafficking levels. “The military presence in northern Niger and the outbreak of Libya’s second civil war in 2014 saw arms flows to the south slow down,” Institute for Security Studies (ISS) senior researcher Hassane Koné wrote. “As demand for guns in Libya increased, jihadist groups looked elsewhere — escalating attacks on army barracks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to loot their arms and ammunition stockpiles.” A…

ADF STAFF When President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) attended the 77th United Nations General Assembly, his country’s restive eastern provinces were at the top of his agenda. After accepting the DRC as a new member in March, the East African Community (EAC) agreed in June to send thousands of troops to four provinces that have been plagued by violence for two decades. “The force is being deployed,” Tshisekedi told reporters on September 26. “That is why we were here and why we made contacts. It was to sensitize donors to support this regional force.”…

ADF STAFF The leaders of Mali’s ruling junta recently met with a high-level delegation of West African leaders seeking the release of 46 Côte d’Ivoire Soldiers held in Mali since July, a reflection of Mali’s increasingly strained relationship with its neighbor to the south and with the international community. The meeting with junta leader Col. Assimi Goïta by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Gambian President Adama Barrow, and Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Dussey produced no change in the status of the peacekeepers, whom Mali has accused of weapons trafficking and conspiracy to overthrow the junta-led government. Analyst Alec Smith,…

ADF STAFF Dozens of suspected human trafficking victims were rescued from two industrial fishing vessels in Namibia in early September. Of the 60 people rescued from MV Shang Fu and the Nata 2 in Walvis Bay, most are from the Philippines, although several were from Angola, Indonesia, Namibia, Mozambique and Vietnam, according to The Namibian newspaper. The suspected victims worked a variety of jobs on the vessels. “The assessment on the victims were done by social workers, and that is still ongoing, as well as inspection of the vessels by labor ministry officials, and it was detected that these people…

ADF STAFF The Ghana Special Boat Squadron (SBS) has graduated its first batch of operators who were 100% domestically trained. The eight new graduates completed the rigorous six-month course and were the only ones out of a class of 25 to successfully finish and receive special forces badges. They trained at the Naval Training Command in Nutekpor which was opened two years earlier. They will now join the SBS, an elite special forces unit trained to counter piracy and trafficking and conduct opposed boarding of ships. Building domestic training capability is a major part of the country’s SBS 5-year Development…