ADF

ADF STAFF Confusion reigned for days after flash floods and landslides killed at least 91 people in the central Kenya town of Mai Mahiu in April. Police initially blamed a burst dam, but the government later said debris had blocked a railroad river tunnel. “The water swept the railway line and started moving downstream with a very high speed and velocity causing destruction of property and loss of lives,” the Ministry of Water reported. Antony Muchiri, emergency response manager at Kenya Red Cross, said unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, played a key role in the country’s response to widespread flooding.…

ADF STAFF Massive redwood trees tower above the floor of central Kenya’s Aberdare National Park, home to an array of animal species, including antelope, buffalo, elephants and endangered species such as black rhinos, mountain bongos, black and white colobus monkeys and the African golden cat. The 767-square-kilometer park, featuring moorlands, mountains and rainforests, is also a hotspot for wildlife poaching and illegal logging. One recent day, a group of uniformed men and one woman, flanked by armed rangers, moved quietly through a thicket overrun by the forest’s stinging nettles. Wilson Gioko, the group’s leader, spotted a mound of fresh dung…

ADF STAFF Violent extremism from the Sahel has been spreading closer to Ghana’s northern border over the last five years. Mataru Mumuni Muqthar, executive director of the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE) in Accra, said that while there have been no attacks, the area is “much more exposed than before.” “How soon do we expect attacks locally? We’re not sure, but [the threat] is increasing due to marginalization along ethnic lines, especially the Fulani ethnic group,” Muqthar told ADF. “There are other ethnic groups, but it’s more pervasive with the Fulani, more intense.” Muqthar also said there has also been evidence…

ADF STAFF As both sides of Sudan’s civil war fight to control el-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, the city’s hospitals and patients are in the crossfire. El-Fasher’s last functioning public hospital, Saudi Hospital, was struck by a bomb on Aug. 11 that wrecked its surgical unit and damaged its maternity ward. Five patients and one staff member died in the attack. “(The) attack on Saudi Hospital – which is the largest hospital in North Darfur state – makes it crystal clear that the warring parties are making no efforts to protect health facilities or the civilians inside them,”…

ADF STAFF Mozambique has eclipsed other African countries as China’s primary supplier of rosewood, a material coveted for its use in expensive furniture. Mozambique shipped 20,000 metric tons of the internationally protected timber to China in 2023 alone, despite a long-standing ban on exporting logs. In doing so, Mozambique overtook Madagascar, Nigeria and Senegal as China’s major rosewood source. Those other countries have either seen their native rosewood supplies stripped or depleted by Chinese logging companies or they have begun enforcing existing rosewood bans more strictly, according to experts. Much of Mozambique’s loggers, both legal and illicit, harvest in Cabo…

ADF STAFF Security threats have grown steadily since Niger’s military seized control of the government in July 2023. While multiple terrorist groups have increased their attacks in the west, rebels and bandits in the east now threaten the country’s fragile economy. Attacks on a critical pipeline have prompted the withdrawal of a Chinese state-owned oil company from its base of operations in an oilfield more than 1,700 kilometers from the capital Niamey, in the eastern desert region of Diffa. The China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) said that “the security situation at the site has deteriorated” after “terrorist groups” carried out…

ADF STAFF The Botswana Defence Force and United States military came together in August for Southern Accord 24, a 10-day biennial joint exercise designed to improve the ability of the two forces to work together in peacekeeping, humanitarian missions and disaster relief. The exercise ran Aug. 5-15 in Gaborone, Thebephatshwa Air Base, and the Shoshong area of rural northeastern Botswana. It brought together Army and Air Force personnel from both countries to hone their skills, including an airborne medical evacuation. The North Carolina National Guard took part in the exercise as part of its long-running relationship with the Botswana Defence…

ADF STAFF The Tunisian Air Force has bolstered its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capacity with the delivery of two Textron C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft. Tunisia is scheduled to receive a total of four of the United States-made planes, part of an initiative to build Tunisian military capacity, Military Africa reported. U.S. officials said the aircraft will be configured for ISR purposes, but not be armed. Surveillance equipment will include night vision capability. The contract for the planes includes spare parts, flight training, technical drawings, logistics support and ground support equipment. The deal was conducted via a U.S. government…

ADF STAFF With bows, slingshots and spears in hand, the young villagers advanced in a line through a forest in the town of Pala in southwest Chad. As the early morning light sifted through the trees, some crawled through the undergrowth while others crouched behind eucalyptus trees. Their leader gave a signal, and they split into small groups. Another signal stopped the men in their tracks, and they trained their weapons on an imaginary target. “Release the hostages and put your weapons down,” they shouted, according to Agence France-Presse. The training exercise was designed to prepare for the likelihood of…

ADF STAFF Terrorists in Benin’s W National Park have killed at least seven Beninese security forces and five rangers working with a nonprofit organization. No terror group claimed responsibility for the July 28 attack near Benin’s borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, but organizations linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the park and around the region. On July 20, the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) attacked a northern Togo Army barracks near the Burkina Faso border, killing six people and seizing weapons. At the time, JNIM also claimed responsibility for attacks on eight military operations in…