ADF

ADF STAFF Amid the many challenges of rooting out Islamist extremists from the dense forests of northeastern Mozambique lies another issue — how to sustain the joint military effort. In addition to the Armed Defense Forces of Mozambique (FADM), military forces from the region and Rwanda were deployed in 2021 to the restive province of Cabo Delgado, where extremist insurgents have been terrorizing civilians for several years. Since 2017, at least 3,600 people in the province have been killed by terrorists and more than 820,000 have fled their homes. Progress has been made on the ground against Ansar al-Sunna, which…

ADF STAFF As a Christian pastor roamed his fields outside Nova Zambézia village in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province on December 15, insurgents surprised him and his wife. The terrorists accosted him, killed him and severed his head. Then, they handed his head to his wife. They ordered her to carry it to village police with a message: “While you are walking on tarred roads, real men are in the woods,” according to an area source. The woman arrived at the District Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique carrying her husband’s head in a bag, according to Mozambican…

ADF STAFF West African officials are saying that the scourge of illegal fishing can only be addressed with a regionally united front. They are calling for greater cooperation on fisheries management, patrols and enforcement in the Gulf of Guinea. Amadou Tall, leader of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) program to enhance fisheries governance in West Africa, made a plea for greater cooperation in December at the end of an annual conference of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC). Cooperation in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing would reduce maritime security costs if…

ADF STAFF In the months since Sudan’s military coup, protests and crackdowns by security forces have become regular sights on Khartoum streets. Dozens have been killed and hundreds injured as they demand the return of civilian rule. Many in Sudan fear they lost their best chance at a transition to democracy when Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned January 2 after failing to find a compromise between the junta and the pro-democracy movement. “I tried as much as I possibly could to prevent our country from sliding into a disaster,” he said in a speech. “Now, our nation is going through…

ADF STAFF Kenyan journalist Bonface Otieno visited China in 2017 as part of a program intended to expose African journalists to Chinese culture and, more important, to the Chinese style of journalism. Otieno, a reporter at Business Daily, was part of a group of 200 journalists from across the continent sent to China for the weekslong all-expenses-paid visit. Their tour was led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of China’s global campaign to change its image in the world’s media. Otieno said he went on the trip with an open mind but left disappointed. “We wanted to understand…

U.S. Africa Command Staff Private security should come with a warning label: Buyer beware. Private military companies (PMCs) can be valuable when they play a supporting role. Militaries hire them to transport troops and equipment or to beef up security at areas of national interest. Oil and gas companies often hire them to patrol installations.  At their best, they offer a relatively low-cost solution to a security challenge. When held to high standards of professionalism, they can be an asset.  But some PMCs come with hidden agendas. Globally, there is a worrying trend of foreign powers using PMCs or mercenaries…

ADF STAFF As Sahel-based terror groups push south, some West African nations have joined forces to push back. Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo recently conducted a joint military operation in response to increased attacks by Islamist insurgent groups. Dubbed Operation Goundalgou-4, it included nearly 5,700 Soldiers deployed from November 21 to 27, 2021, in five regions of Burkina Faso that border the other participating countries. Burkinabe Security Minister Maxime Kone called the operation a success. “This pooling of staff and resources has enabled our defense and security forces to carry out several patrol operations, to cordon off areas followed…

ADF STAFF Benin, Ghana and Togo have signed a pact to work together to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Gulf of Guinea. Benin and Togo completed their first joint patrol operation in mid-December. It was funded by the European Union’s Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in Western Africa program, known as PESCAO. Ghana signed the agreement in late December. Besides at-sea patrols, the countries will share information from the Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Centre in Ghana, which was formed by the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) in 2021. Other partners include…

ADF STAFF Mali’s military junta has backed itself into a corner. After the transitional government refused to hold democratic elections in 2022, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) sanctioned Mali on January 9, imposing a trade embargo, withdrawing all ambassadors, and closing its members’ land and air borders with the country. Col. Assimi Goita, the leader of two recent coups in a nine-month period, proposed elections in December 2025 instead of February 2022, as originally agreed upon with ECOWAS. The 15-member regional bloc called it “unacceptable.” “It simply means that an illegitimate military transition government will take the…

ADF STAFF China’s inroads into Africa’s media environment began in 2006 when Xinhua, the Chinese national news agency, moved its regional headquarters from Paris to Nairobi, Kenya. “There seemed to have been a realization that Nairobi could be used as a launching pad,” Joseph Odindo, former editorial director at Kenya’s Nation Media Group and now editorial director at Standard Group, told DW.com. Over the past 15 years, China’s media influence campaign has run parallel to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) construction projects. Kenya, home to several BRI projects, has become the hub for China’s expanding African media footprint. Broadcaster CGTN…