ADF

Growing ties between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Somali terror groups threaten to fuel greater insecurity in Somalia and further disrupt shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Aries D. Russell of Aries Intelligence said there is “credible evidence” that Iranian and Houthi-linked networks are using Somali ports and smuggling routes to move arms into East Africa and there are indications they also offer consultation and training. “What we’re seeing is more of an influence and logistical presence, rather than a direct Houthi ground deployment into Africa,” Russell told ADF. Russell characterized the Houthis, as well as jihadist…

The Islamic State’s branch in Somalia has built a broad-based network of financing options, all of them aimed at providing the group with as much as $360,000 per month, despite the government’s attempts to disrupt its funding stream. The Somalia Financial Reporting Center (FRC) tracked more than 100 transactions tied to funding terrorists in 2024, but experts say that figure is likely only a fraction of the total number of transactions. Some of those transactions were connected to real estate purchases in Kenya. “Despite the challenges we have faced, we are committed to continuing our efforts,” the Reporting Center’s director,…

When Capt. Ibrahim Traoré seized power in Burkina Faso in 2022, he castigated the deposed junta for failing to defeat a rising tide of terrorism and promised to secure the country within months. Failing that, Traoré’s regime has found much more success in silencing critics with abductions, torture and forced conscription. The international media has been ejected from the country, while local journalists have been forced to take great caution. “Today it’s difficult to interview people on the street,” a local journalist told Agence France-Presse. “No one wants to risk being sent to the front for talking about trivial matters.…

Illegal mining in Nigeria has gained momentum and is fueling violence, especially in areas with high unemployment. Chinese nationals and corporations that collaborate with local criminal networks drive the scourge, which costs the country an estimated $9 billion annually. Entering through Nigeria’s porous borders, foreign miners make deals with criminals who offer protection in exchange for weapons and cash. This has fueled kidnappings for ransom, banditry, recruitment into criminal organizations and ongoing communal clashes. “Once criminal control of a mining site is established, it becomes a mini-fiefdom,” Kabir Adamu, a security analyst in Abuja, said in a report on Nigeria’s…

A spate of videos targeting young women for jobs in Russia recently caused an uproar in South Africa. At least 10 social media influencers began posting photos and videos in August as part of a campaign to promote the Alabuga Start program in central Russia’s Tatarstan Republic. The videos went viral, but not for their intended purpose. The influencers faced a swift backlash and a government investigation when multiple media reports revealed well-documented evidence that Alabuga Start has tricked African women into working in a military drone assembly plant to support Russia’s war on Ukraine. “We are extremely worried,” Clayson…

Experts say the recent announcement of a parallel Sudanese government run by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, is likely to lead to more violence that could result in a Libya-style partition that takes years to resolve. Hemedti and his forces, known as the RSF, announced the parallel government based in Nyala, South Darfur, at the end of August. So far, the launch of the so-called “Hope Government” has been more symbolic than substantial. Many of the key players live outside the war-torn country and left after the announcement, according to reports. No other…

The people of southern and eastern Zambia have been hit the hardest by a severe drought that began almost two years ago, so military aircraft delivering 50-kilogram bags of maize brought much-needed relief. Zambia declared a national emergency in 2024, but with ongoing food shortages and water scarcity, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) arrived at the right time with Blue Lugwasho, a 19-day humanitarian and disaster response exercise with nearly 1,000 of the region’s air force troops working alongside Zambian forces. “It’s not an exercise for these people, it’s a reality,” Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Director of Public Relations…

As drones play a larger role in battle strategies across Africa, the continent’s militaries are adding small, commercially available drones to their arsenals as an inexpensive and highly adaptable alternative to military-grade unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In recent years, African militaries have gone on a UAV shopping spree with Turkey’s Bayraktar TB-2 and Akinci drones becoming the most popular options. At $5 million each for a TB-2 and up to $50 million for an Akinci, the costs for cash-strapped militaries add up quickly. Commercial drones, by comparison, cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars and can…

Shortly after Capt. Ibrahim Traoré led Burkina Faso’s second coup in a year in September 2023, deepfake videos began circulating that urged Burkinabe citizens to support the coup. Since then, Traoré has become the star of a variety of videos manufactured to portray the junta leader shaking hands with world leaders, berating the International Monetary Fund, or addressing Pope Leo XIV in fluent English. The videos are carefully crafted to elicit an emotional reaction. “When people hear voices, even artificial ones, boldly articulating what they’ve always felt but rarely heard echoed, it sparks something powerful,” said Yaw Kissi, a pan-African…

The Sahelian terror group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has expanded across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger largely by exploiting the region’s resources and communities for its own benefit. The al-Qaida affiliate has amassed a stable stream of illicit financing that it uses to buy weapons, produce propaganda and recruit new members. Rather than rely on a single flow of income, JNIM has diversified across four primary sources: artisanal mining, kidnapping, livestock theft and money laundering. “Its engagement in illicit economies has been key to the group’s successful expansion,” Nigerian researchers Egodi Uchendu and Muhammed Sani Dangusau wrote recently for…