ADF

ADF STAFF When the first cases of COVID-19 arrived in Senegal, the military jumped into action.  In March 2020, the Senegalese Army traveled to Touba, 190 kilometers east of Dakar, and built a mobile field hospital to handle an anticipated rise in COVID-19 cases that threatened to overwhelm the local hospital.  In a matter of days an empty field was transformed into a 14-tent, 690-square-meter compound in which doctors could perform surgery and diagnose and treat hundreds of patients a day. All treatment was offered to the public for free.    It was an unusual mission for unusual times.  “We…

ADF STAFF When it comes to pandemic diseases, the African continent has been forged in fire. History is replete with examples of deadly illnesses originating on the continent and ravaging populations in nation after nation. Some, such as Ebola, rear their heads fiercely in specific regions at different times, killing and terrorizing populations while the world looks on in fear. Others, such as HIV/AIDS, stubbornly take root in a region and become an endemic health concern for generations, not unlike the ever-present threat of malaria or yellow fever. A few, however, emerge elsewhere and march across the globe, infecting Africa…

ADF STAFF Residents of Senegal’s restive Casamance region are voicing hope after a military offensive drove rebels out of forest strongholds. In January, the Senegalese Armed Forces launched a campaign in the southern region to root out separatists known as the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). The ground strikes, backed by air support, destroyed three rebel bases. In May, Senegalese forces began another campaign about 30 kilometers south of the regional capital, Ziguinchor. Senegalese commanders let reporters view the abandoned bases where fleeing rebels left behind anti-tank rockets, land mines and AK-47s. Soldiers also uncovered underground bunkers used…

ADF STAFF “In cooperation there is strength.” That was the message Tunisian Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Adel Jehane took from this year’s Phoenix Express, a multinational maritime exercise involving every coastal nation in North Africa. Tunisia hosted the exercise’s 16th edition May 17-28, bringing together maritime forces from 13 nations: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain and the United States. Frigates from Algeria, Egypt and Morocco joined the Tunisian fleet for the main part of the exercise at La Goulette Naval Base in Tunis. They participated in maneuvers to…

ADF STAFF Off the coast of West Africa, foreign ships sweep the sea for sardinella, bonga and other small pelagic fish crucial to the region’s artisanal fishing communities. The fish end up at factories like the Chinese-operated plant in Kartong, in the southwest corner of The Gambia, where they’re pressed for oil and ground into powder that is exported to feed livestock and farmed fish around the world. The farmed fish and shrimp then return to West Africa as expensive imported products while artisanal fishers struggle to survive. A report recently released by Greenpeace Africa and Changing Markets shows that…

ADF STAFF Heads of state are accustomed to welcoming visitors. They entertain foreign officials with frequency, rolling out red carpets and assembling military honor guards adorned in their finest uniforms.  But not all visitors come with an official entourage, much less an invitation. In fact, a couple of unannounced visitors to Liberian President George Weah in 2019 caused quite a stir. Two black snakes infiltrated Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs building through a grate above and behind the security desk on the ground floor. A video shows one snake, of unknown species, twist and writhe where the ceiling met the…

ADF STAFF The Mitchells Plain neighborhood sits along the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, in a section called Cape Flats. It is a part of the city known for its notorious street gangs, who violently clash with each other and terrorize the residents. The gangs sport flashy and colorful names such as the Hustlers, Rude Boys, Ghetto Kids and Spoilt Brats. The language of graffiti marks walls, shacks and homes. The gangs’ dealings in drugs, weapons and the shellfish abalone led to deadly turf wars. In 2018, Cape Town saw more than 2,800 murders, a rate of about 66…

ADF STAFF A speedboat carrying eight pirates approached a Ghanaian vessel 105 kilometers off the port town of Tema. Five pirates fired at the Ghanaian vessel before boarding it, sailing it farther south and kidnapping five crew members, according to a report by Dryad Global, which covers maritime security issues. The May incident brought the number of kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea to 56 during five incidents in 2021. It also underscored one reason members of the Nigerian Navy, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Ghana, the Danish government and the United Nations Development Programme gathered in…

ADF STAFF About 2 1/2 years ago, Professor James Larkin was having lunch with friends at a lovely Mexican restaurant in Johannesburg when the subject of rhino poaching came up. Part of the multibillion-dollar illicit wildlife trade worldwide, rhino horn is worth more than gold. Despite having no medicinal value, it is considered a potent ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. “James, why don’t you zap them with radiation?” one of his friends asked, knowing Larkin is director of the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. That suggestion led to the Rhisotope Project, which became…

ADF STAFF The suspected death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in Nigeria in May raises questions about the future of the country’s notorious extremist organization and a possible shift in power toward its rival, the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP). The Nigerian military has said it is attempting to confirm ISWAP’s claim. This is the sixth time Shekau has been declared dead since 2009. That year, after recovering from an attack in Niger, Shekau returned to Nigeria and took control of Boko Haram. Under his control, the organization became more violent, killing thousands and driving more than…