ADF

The terror group espouses a hateful ideology but operates like a business ADF STAFF | PHOTOS BY REUTERS Farmers, herdsmen and shop owners in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia have grown to dread the knock on their doors. Typically coming around the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the knock means a visit from heavily armed, aggressive “tax collectors.” The collectors tell the businessman it is his religious duty to pay zakat, a type of alms intended to help the poor. If he dares to tell the gunmen that they have no religious authority to collect the tax, he risks death. Either…

The Introduction of Salafist Ideology in East Africa Has Erased Long-Standing Peaceful Coexistence Among Religious Groups BY ABDISAID M. ALI Abdisaid M. Ali is the regional political advisor for the Office of the European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa. His views do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. This article originally was published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and it has been edited to fit this format. The risk of Islamist extremism frequently focuses on Somalia and al-Shabaab. Yet adherents to extremist versions of Islam can now be found throughout East Africa.…

ADF STAFF David Samba and Onomo Mugabi don protective headgear and big, puffy gloves to punch away in the shadow of one of the world’s greatest boxers. Both boys are students at the boxing club La Tete Haute de Muhammad Ali (the High Head of Muhammad Ali). They swing their arms, punching at the air. They move their feet, bobbing and weaving to avoid imaginary jabs. In so doing, they help preserve a spirit born on a balmy night more than 42 years earlier in a place once known as Zaire. The boxing club trains boys and girls at Tata…

Building the Somali National Army is essential to ridding the country of al-Shabaab — and the clock is ticking ADF STAFF It’s a bright day in the month of Ramadan in the central Somali city of Beledweyne, and the town is buzzing. Watermelons are piled high in the market stalls, ready to be loaded onto trucks and shipped all over the country. Boys herd goats down the street, and women in brightly colored scarves walk in small groups. In the middle of it all is Brig. Ahmed Farah Abdulle of the Somali National Army (SNA) with a gun slung over his shoulder…

The annual East African Community event has become a source of pride and bragging rights for participating countries ADF STAFF  | Photos by RWANDA DEFENCE FORCE More than 500 participants gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, in August 2016 for the 10th edition of the East African Community Military Games with the theme, “One people, one destiny.” Military athletes from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda joined in the games. Burundi had planned to participate, but withdrew, saying it had not had enough time to prepare its teams. Burundians bearing their national flag attended the games in a show of support. Rwandan Gen.…

A Rehabilitation program offers fighters an exit from al-Shabaab BY JACOB DOYLE AND BERENIKA STEFANSKA Ahmed, the son of a fisherman, joined al-Shabaab in 2006 as a way to earn money and support his five children. He headed a rapid-reaction team for the terror group and saw heavy combat. But he grew disenchanted with life inside al-Shabaab. Living in the harsh Somali desert, fighters would sometimes go days without access to food or water. Distrust was universal, and leaving was not an option. “I clearly remember a man my colleagues arrested for allegedly being a government spy and a nonbeliever,” said Ahmed,…

The country works with neighbors and international organizations to stifle extremists and stop recruitment LT. MOHAMED KEITA/NATIONAL GENDARMERIE SCHOOLS COMMAND Photos by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Reducing violent extremism in Mali seems technically and tactically uncertain, owing to the complexity of regional politics. This is marked by an increasing number of players and stakeholders whose interests compete more often than they align. Since 2012, the number of armed groups in Mali has increased, and the spread of intercommunal violence is jeopardizing the Algiers’ Comprehensive Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (CPRA). Terrorist cells have proliferated throughout the country as the threat’s epicenter has moved…

African Union Forces Must Use Counternarratives to Unravel Al-Shabaab’s Recruitment Messaging BY LT. Col. DEO AKIIKI, UGANDAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki is head of strategic communications at the Uganda Ministry of Defence. He has led military information support operations to defeat al-Shabaab propaganda. He is an expert in crafting strategies to counter extremist narratives in print and electronic media. He holds a master’s degree in human rights and local governance from Uganda Martyrs University, and he graduated from the Marshall Center’s Program on Applied Security Studies. This article has been edited to fit this format. As a…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE The equestrian art known as tbourida, inspired by the historical charges of the cavalrymen of Morocco, fascinated painter Eugene Delacroix two centuries ago and still draws enthusiastic crowds today. At the October 2016 Salon du Cheval show in El Jadida, western Morocco, thousands were enthralled by the spectacle of groups of riders in traditional dress charging in a line and then coming to a halt with a synchronized firing of their muskets in a deafening and pungent blast of gunpowder. The 15 finest troops of cavalrymen from across the North African country competed in the first King Mohammed…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE With its beaches and year-round sun, Tunisia is not the most obvious home for the winter sport of ice hockey. But one man is determined to change that. In 2014, Ihab Ayed quit his job in finance in Paris to realize his dream of creating the North African country’s first ice hockey team. Ayed had dreamed of a Tunisian team playing the game internationally ever since he learned at age 5 how to hit a puck on ice. “It took me six years, from 2006 to 2012, to bring together 40 players from around the world,” said the…