ADF

Mozambique has long been a key transit point for the trafficking of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and opioids, but recent arrests and government data show that the drug business is expanding alongside rising concerns of domestic addiction problems. After months of investigating evidence and rumors of international cartel activity and at least two hidden drug labs in the nation’s capital, police arrested three men — a Mozambican and two Mexican nationals — during an April 11 anti-drug-trafficking operation at Maputo International Airport. “There is strong evidence linking the three detainees to international drug trafficking, document forgery and criminal…

From the ports of Cameroon to the islands of Comoros, Russian vessels are increasingly registering tankers under African flags to keep its widely sanctioned, oil-exporting “shadow fleet” operating. Russia needs to continue transporting oil to fund its costly invasion of Ukraine. Researchers at the Robert Lansing Institute say that Moscow targets African shipping registries because it lets the shadow fleet obscure the true ownership of its oil-carrying tankers. African shipping registries often are plagued by weak mechanisms to verify a vessel’s registration, operators and ownership origins. “In practice, this means that ships can continue operating within international shipping networks while remaining…

The retreat of Malian and Russian forces from Kidal after their defeat by combined insurgent forces at the end of April called into question the value of the Malian junta’s counterterrorism strategy, which relies heavily on Russia’s Africa Corps private military contractor. The cost of Africa Corps’ services —estimated to be around $10 million a month for a contingent of around 2,000 mercenaries — has many experts thinking the government should demand a stronger commitment to justify a return on investment. According to Habib Al Badawi, a professor of international relations at Lebanese University, the image of Russian forces abandoning…

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a May 3 drone strike against a fuel storage facility at Kenana Sugar Co. Ltd. in White Nile State, setting fire to one of the country’s most important pieces of economic infrastructure and weakening the nation’s food security. “The targeting of facilities that had just resumed operations after years of shutdown demonstrates systematic economic warfare that compounds Sudan’s humanitarian crisis,” the Darfur Network for Human Rights posted in a statement about the attack on X. The Kenana attack happened weeks after Sudan’s civil war entered its fourth year. It came after drone attacks by…

Maj. Gen. Peter Muteti was named deputy force commander in charge of support and logistics for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in 2023 and held the same position in the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) until December 2025. During a 39-year career in the Kenya Defence Forces he has served in leadership roles including as assistant chief of defence forces responsible for force development, operational effectiveness and policy development. After being commissioned in the Infantry Corps in 1988, he held command appointments and was deployed to security hot spots in Kenya’s northern, northeastern and…

Islamic State group terrorists have burrowed into the Cal Miskaad mountains in Somalia’s northern Puntland region. From those hovels, hewn from rocks and dirt, fighters have set up fortified camps to attack local security forces. The rustic setting also belies the group’s capacity for international terrorist financing and fundraising. An Islamic State group (IS) faction that once accepted money from Iraq and Syria now collects and disperses huge sums of money across the continent and beyond. Authorities have traced funds flowing from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Uganda.  Money coming to South Africa has…

African governments for decades have grappled with the destabilizing effects of private military companies (PMCs), mercenaries and paramilitary groups, which are paid to protect leaders or fight alongside government forces in conflict zones — often without regard for local populations.  Mercenaries such as Russia’s Africa Corps, formerly the Wagner Group, are accused of committing atrocities against civilians in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Mozambique and Sudan. These veteran troops fight and spread the Kremlin’s geopolitical agenda for pay. However, a new wrinkle in the continent’s war on terror is developing as seasoned, foreign terrorists are offering their services to…

A Mauritanian National Guardsman demonstrates a thermal image from a camera attached to a drone outside Oualata in April 2025. These desert cavalrymen, known as Méharistes, plod across the Sahara on camels. In recent years, they have regained a central role in the nation’s security strategy. Their patrols are crucial in a vast territory that shares 2,200 kilometers of a sparsely populated border with Mali, a nation for years plagued by terrorism and insurgency. The camels can move where even four-wheel-drive vehicles become immobilized. The guard had dwindled to about 50 people a few years ago due to a lack of…

When Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) extremists launched four simultaneous deadly attacks against Nigerian military forces in late October 2025, armed drones played a key role. The attacks on positions in the communities of Dikwa, Gajibo, Mafa and Katarko killed five Soldiers and burned a military base. Ultimately, Nigerian Soldiers drove back the attacks, killing 50 ISWAP fighters. However, the assault illustrated how drones have become an integral part of terrorist operations in Africa. Although African governments have spent millions of dollars buying military-grade drones such as Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci, terrorist groups have spent significantly less on…

Photos by Minusca It was a rare moment of joy in the Central African Republic village of Sanguéré-Lim as fighters who once inspired terror stood in line to lay down their weapons. The combatants from the Retour, Réclamation et Réhabilitation (3R) militia included teenage boys wearing football jerseys and grizzled men in knit caps. Upbeat music boomed on loudspeakers as a man hoisting a grenade launcher stood alongside a teen cupping two handfuls of bullets. “Today, the armed groups have laid down their weapons and that changed everything,” Adama Yaouba, a resident of the village, told the United Nations. “Before,…