ADF

ADF STAFF Burkina Faso has become the third West African country to acquire Turkish-made armed drones for use in the fight against extremism. The Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly in demand by countries looking for relatively cheap air power to give them an upper hand against insurgent groups. Niger and Togo purchased TB2s recently. Analysts say the appeal of the weapon is clear. “They can stay in the air for a long time, differentiate between targets and wait for a shot even if there is a short-range air defense system,” Akram Karief, an Algerian defense journalist, told Radio…

ADF STAFF Since gaining independence in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced at least nine different coup attempts. The most recent plot, in February, shared similarities with others in that it involved members of the military who are connected to the country’s infamous drug trade. Heavily armed gunmen surrounded the presidential palace while President Umaro Sissoco Embaló held a cabinet meeting. Seven members of his security detail, three government workers and one assailant were killed in the ensuing five-hour battle. Afterwards, Embaló said the “failed attack against democracy was well-prepared and organized and could also be related to people involved in drug trafficking.”…

ADF STAFF Ghana sees enormous potential in its blue economy, but faces threats including piracy, illegal fishing, drug smuggling and human trafficking. The new National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS) aims to ensure that Ghana’s maritime domain will be safe and its blue economy thriving by 2040. The strategy has been in the works since 2016. It was drafted after consultations with state agencies and departments; local private entities, including those with fisheries and environmental interests; commercial and non-commercial maritime actors; experts and international partners; among others. It was developed with support from the Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS)…

ADF STAFF Since early 2020, Mali has banned the export of rosewood, also known as kosso. Despite that, nearly 150,000 tons of the wood — equal to 220,000 trees — left the country over the last two years, all of it with a single destination: China. “Rosewood is a species traditionally and culturally valued by the Chinese, so there’s almost like an insatiable demand there,” Haibing Ma, Asia policy expert for the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), told Voice of America. China’s hunger for rosewood and other forest materials, such as ebony and teak, is stripping forests, crippling both the…

ADF STAFF A large industrial fishing vessel casts its massive net off the coast off Saint-Louis, Senegal. The net, which looks like a halo atop the water, can catch more fish in a week than an artisanal canoe can catch in a year. There was a time when local fishermen made a satisfactory living fishing in their own waters, but the influx of foreign trawlers has decimated fish stocks in Saint-Louis and around West Africa. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing costs the region $2.3 billion each year, according to the United Nations. IUU fishing is also linked to other sea crimes,…

ADF STAFF Anti-United Nations protests in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have spurred experts and stakeholders to consider major changes to the approach to missions around the world. The three most complex missions in Africa — in the DRC, Mali and the Central African Republic — are called “stabilization” missions. They deal with an array of political challenges, criminal networks, extremist groups and mercenaries. There is no durable peace to keep in these countries, so the objective is to stabilize each country enough for its own government to operate. These types of missions are now being reconsidered.…

ADF STAFF Christelle Youmbi’s 11-year-old son was taking a bath behind their house in the Boko-Boudeye community of the Central African Republic when Wagner Group mercenaries grabbed the naked boy and carried him away as he struggled to escape. “I begged them to tell me where they were taking him to, but they refused to say anything,” Youmbi told news website The Daily Beast. In all, Wagner mercenaries snatched seven boys between the ages of 10 and 13 from the community that day, according to reports. They told Youmbi they were taking the community’s boys to keep them safe ahead…

ADF STAFF In its latest bid to remain in power, the military junta that took control of Sudan nearly a year ago is supporting a proposal that would make the military the country’s supreme authority. The move has sparked outrage among pro-democracy protesters and led to fears of widening turmoil. “Sudan’s democratic fate is in the balance,” wrote Guma Kunda Komey, a former advisor to Sudan’s prime minister, and John Goodman, an expert in conflict resolution. “Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese are in the street, risking their lives for peaceful change. Yet the world is not paying attention.” In July,…

ADF STAFF The fight against Boko Haram and other extremist groups has taken a mental toll on members of Nigeria’s military. To help Soldiers struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental issues, the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA) is establishing a PTSD diagnostic, treatment and research center to serve military personnel in Abuja. The first phase of the project is expected to be commissioned by April 2023, according to a report by Channel Network Afrique. A survey of military wives across the country showed that many troops experience nightmares, anxiety, insomnia, bursts of anger, depression, flashbacks…

ADF STAFF Founded in 1925, Virunga is Africa’s oldest national park. It is one of the continent’s most biologically diverse conservation areas and is home to one-third of the planet’s endangered wild mountain gorillas. The park is located in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where more than 100 armed groups battle Congolese and Ugandan Soldiers, United Nations peacekeepers, local militias and each other. Virunga has seen a spate of shocking attacks on rangers in recent years, including 19 killed so far in 2022, according to the Thin Green Line Foundation (TGL), an international charity that supports rangers and the…