ADF

ADF STAFF A recent terror attack on Palma, a strategic port town in northern Mozambique, left dozens of Mozambican troops and civilians dead. It also raised the country’s profile with the Islamic State group (IS) and other terrorists around the world. The group behind the attack is Ansar al-Sunna, but locals refer to it as “al-Shabaab,” even though it has no links to the Somalia-based terror group of the same name. IS has lost territory and power in Syria and Iraq in recent years but has made steady inroads in Africa, especially in Mozambique. This could inspire supporters worldwide to…

ADF STAFF Three years after Russia’s Wagner Group began arriving in the Central African Republic, international observers have raised concerns about executions, torture and other actions by the group. They also are questioning its interactions with United Nations peacekeepers. Wagner Group contractors now are part of the fighting between the FACA, the national armed forces, and the rebel groups known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), which earlier this year controlled as much as 80% of the country. Fighting intensified after the December 27, 2020, presidential election that saw President Faustin-Archange Touadéra win a second five-year term. Touadéra…

ADF STAFF The gun-toting men arrived on motorbikes outside the boys’ secondary school in Kankara, Nigeria. They shot the school guard and roused frightened children from their beds. The attackers stripped the children of valuables and ordered them to march through the school gate and into a forest where the group made their camp. In all, more than 340 schoolboys were abducted. “They commanded the crowd like a herdsman herds the sheep,” an escapee told CNN. In the coming days, members of the group released a video demanding a ransom for the boys’ release. They said they were part of…

ADF STAFF A gory two-week siege in Palma, a port city on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, rattled the region and drew calls for international intervention. The terror group Ansar al-Sunna (supporters of the tradition) claimed responsibility for the attack that left about 60 people dead, including children. By April 4, Palma was back under government control, but the damage was severe. “The population is returning, but they have nothing to eat because the terrorists have looted almost everything,” Agostinho Muthisse, a Mozambican military commander, told reporters in Palma. The attack illustrates why security experts worry that the…

ADF STAFF As moonlight glints off the waves of the Liberian coast, a group of divers with blowtorches and breathing masks plunge deep into the dark water. From the ocean floor, they gather as many sea cucumbers as they can. They make $1.75 for every kilogram of sea cucumbers they collect. On a good night, they pull in up to 50 kilograms apiece. It’s not an easy job. Their wetsuits get torn on rocks; diving into deep waters can cause nose bleeds and headaches; and they risk catching lipoid pneumonia from inhaling fumes from diesel-powered oxygen compressors. As the BBC…

ADF STAFF Military and public health leaders from across Africa gathered virtually for the African Partner Outbreak Response Alliance (APORA) conference to discuss pressing health issues facing the continent. The semiannual conference sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) focused on how countries can work together to respond quickly to disease outbreaks. The gathering brought together 94 people from 17 countries, including representatives from AFRICOM and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC), along with experts from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa. The first of three…

ADF STAFF A piracy incident last year in the Gulf of Guinea exposed the use of illegal and dangerous tactics by fishing vessels. In May 2020, pirates overtook the Chinese fishing vessel Hai Lu Feng 11 and its 11-member crew off Côte d’Ivoire. Authorities eventually stopped the boat off the coast of Nigeria, but not before it had sailed through the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Ghana, Togo and Benin. As he prepared an article for the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), maritime law and security expert Ian Ralby found that the Hai Lu Feng 11’s automated information system…

ADF STAFF There was a thunderous blast, flames shot into the sky and a dark cloud of smoke formed over a tree line near a military base in Equatorial Guinea. Then came another explosion. And another. Swarms of people ran in fear. Others didn’t have the chance. Jesus Nguema’s family was among the fortunate. A shock wave caused a fire that razed the apartment building where his seven children were staying. Nguema told Reuters he waited 12 agonizing hours before he learned that they had survived. “By some miracle, my children were able to get out of the furnace and save…

U.S. Africa Command Staff As COVID-19 swept the globe in 2020, security professionals were called on to perform new duties. They enforced quarantines, patrolled streets, guarded hospitals and transported lifesaving medical gear. While much of the world went into lockdown, Soldiers stepped up.  And although the pandemic ignited a sense of shared purpose and a willingness to sacrifice, some have tried to take advantage of it.  Traffickers, pirates, poachers and other criminals saw an opportunity to operate more freely while the attention of the world was elsewhere. In some of the most reprehensible cases, traffickers tried to profit by manufacturing…

Tijjani Muhammad Bande of Nigeria, president of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, spoke May 20, 2020, as part of the Africa Dialogue Series on “COVID-19 and Silencing the Guns in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities.” His comments have been edited to fit this format. COVID-19 has brought such disruption as never experienced since the creation of the United Nations. I extend my deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19 and wish those battling the virus a fast and full recovery. The challenges posed by this disease are multidimensional and can only be effectively tackled by…