ADF

In the wake of the success of aerial drones, naval forces are exploring ways to use uncrewed surface vessels to address maritime threats. The drone ships, also known as USVs, can be as small as a meter or as large as 100 meters and are controlled by operators on land or navigate autonomously using sensors. They have clear advantages over traditional vessels: They are cheaper, operate in all weather and don’t put Sailors at risk. “These advances have turned USVs into a genuine force multiplier,” Matthew Ratsey of the company Zero USV told South Africa’s Engineering News. “They extend the…

Terrorism is a crime of opportunity. Global terror groups search out the world’s most vulnerable areas and plant their flags there.  Countries with porous borders, ethnic strife, governmental neglect and a young, frustrated population are ripe for exploitation. Africa is not spared from this global phenomenon.  In Mozambique, the Sahel, Somalia and coastal West Africa, extremists are active and looking to expand. The Sahel now is the global epicenter of terrorism, accounting for 43% of the world’s terrorism deaths in 2023. In 2007, that figure was only 1%.  Burkina Faso is in the eye of the Sahel’s terror storm. More…

Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria is deputy secretary-general of the United Nations and chair of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group. She spoke on April 22, 2024, at the High-Level African Counter-Terrorism Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. The theme was “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism in Africa.” Her comments have been edited for space and clarity. Terrorism continues to pose a significant threat to global peace, stability and sustainable development. Deaths from terrorism in the world rose to 8,352 in 2023, a 22% increase from the prior year and the highest level since 2017.…

The Economic Community of West African States conducted Operation Safe Domain III, aimed at keeping the Gulf of Guinea free of piracy and trafficking. The West African regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, includes 12 coastal countries among its 15 members. The third iteration of the maritime security training event ran August 5 to 9, 2024, in Cotonou, Benin. The exercise included maritime and aerial surveillance, intervention training of operational units, surveys, and knowledge and research exchanges. The regional bloc’s Multinational Maritime Coordination Center (MMCC) for Zone E led the event. Zone E consists of Benin, Nigeria and Togo. “The exercise’s…

Just three years after the Nigerian Air Force took delivery of a dozen A-29 Super Tucanos, Airmen there have logged 10,000 flying hours on the single-engine light attack planes.  Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, Nigeria’s chief of air staff, noted the achievement at Kainji Air Force Base in August 2024, saying that it represents years of dedication, sacrifice and unwavering commitment to the Air Force’s mission. “Reaching 10,000 flight hours is no small feat as it symbolizes the countless hours of training, meticulous planning and flawless execution that have gone into every mission we have undertaken,” Abubakar said, as reported by…

Guinea-Bissau, a West African nation once known as a “narco-state,” intercepted 2.63 metric tons of cocaine just months after the United Nations reported that nearby Sahel states were emerging as significant drug trafficking routes.  Authorities in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger seized 1.47 metric tons of cocaine in 2022 compared to an average of 13 kilograms between 2013 and 2020, according to a 2024 report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “The involvement of various armed groups in drug trafficking continues to undermine peace and stability in the region,” Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC regional representative…

Africa is now the continent most affected by terrorism. Each day, an average of eight terror attacks results in 44 deaths. In certain parts of the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, the Horn of Africa and Mozambique, deadly violence is a near constant horror. In particular, the Sahel has emerged as the global terrorism epicenter, accounting for 47% of all deaths from violent extremism. Terror groups have capitalized on the region’s poor governance, ethnic divisions, coups and fractured regional security partnerships. Heavy-handed responses by military-led governments and a reliance on unaccountable mercenaries have done little to contain the problem and might…

When security forces in Puntland, Somalia, raided a vehicle convoy traveling south from Garowe, they confiscated a collection of drones capable of delivering explosives. The devices were similar to those used by Houthi rebels across the Red Sea in Yemen. So-called kamikaze drones are, in essence, flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They are typically low-cost, commercially available quadcopters capable of carrying a single explosive — often a mortar shell — that can be either dropped on a target or flown directly into it. Their presence in Somalia has raised the fear of expanded drone use by terrorist groups. Until recently,…

Photos by MINUSCA Lt. Gen. Humphrey Nyone has served in the Zambian military since 1994 and has held various roles, including commandant of the Defence Services Command and Staff College of Zambia, director-general for policy doctrine and strategy for the Zambia Army, and commander of the 1st Infantry Division. He previously served in United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone. He was appointed force commander for the U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in May 2023. He spoke to ADF by videoconference from Bangui. His remarks have been edited for space…

Photos by AFP/Getty Images Africa has by far the youngest population among the continents, with about 40% of its population — nearly 600 million people — 15 or younger. It’s the primary target audience for militant groups, and one of many reasons that experts say extremism in Africa has been so difficult to defeat. “Terrorist groups are finding a vulnerable, impressionable population to target,” Professor Barend Prinsloo told ADF. “Attacks on villages often involve the murder of older individuals, while young people are either physically taken captive or mentally indoctrinated. This massive, youthful demographic provides a virtually endless supply of…