ADF

Morocco has dismantled a seven-member terrorist cell linked to ISIS that was planning to abduct and murder tourists, the Interior Ministry said. The suspects, whose identities were not revealed, had pledged allegiance to ISIS, the ministry said in a statement carried by the MAP news agency. They were planning to “abduct and physically liquidate” tourists at seaside resorts, the statement added. The suspects had undertaken “intensive paramilitary training” in a mountainous region of Morocco, according to the Interior Ministry. The June 11, 2015, arrests were made by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, inaugurated in March as part of the…

French automotive giant PSA Peugeot Citroen announced it will build a $632 million car factory in Morocco with an annual production capacity of 90,000 units. The plant, due to open in 2019 north of Rabat, will address “the needs of the region and of Moroccan customers,” a company statement said. Chairman Carlos Tavares signed an official agreement with Moroccan Industry Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy in the presence of King Mohammed VI at his palace in the capital. The group said the plant will assemble engines and vehicles in the compact and midsize segment, the mainstay of Morocco’s car industry. “With…

Information and Communications Technology Helps Dispel Rumors in Kenya’s Volatile Tana Delta Kenya’s Tana River winds 1,000 kilometers out of the Aberdare Mountains. It twists and turns before making its way through the towns of Garissa, Hola and Garsen on its way to the Indian Ocean. It’s the nation’s longest river, and around it thrives a delta teeming with palm savannas, grasslands, forests and lakes. The delta, rich with rice paddies and sugar crops, also is known for violence rooted in long-standing conflicts between two ethnic groups, the Pokomo and the Orma. The Pokomo people are mostly farmers who make their…

Rethinking Civil-Military Dialogue in Nigeria Nigeria’s long national crisis relating to Boko Haram has been devastating for many reasons. It cost thousands of innocent lives, caused 1.4 million people to flee their homes, and harmed the nation’s image around the world. It also has increased mistrust between civilians and the Armed Forces. Public confidence in the Nigerian military dropped from 78 percent to 57 percent between 2011 and 2014, according to a Gallup poll of Nigerians. Confidence in the police dropped from 49 percent to 33 percent. Rebuilding this trust will be a long process and may require extensive security…

Success for Soldiers Must Include Education in Addition to Basic Military Training An African Soldier deployed to the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic will have to know far more than the boundaries of his patrol area or how to clean his gun. If, say, he is from South Africa or Ghana, he will face an immediate language barrier. Most people in the country speak French or Sangho, an African-based Creole language. Others speak a variety of disparate tribal dialects. The peacekeeper will encounter more than seven prominent ethnic groups, three major religions and multiple indigenous belief systems, as…

Training and Strong Institutions Trump Mere Numbers Kenya was still reeling from a bloody 2013 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Shopping Mall when al-Shabaab extremists unleashed another high-profile assault on the nation. On April 2, 2015, the Somalia-based militants stormed the campus of Garissa University College. They immediately killed two security guards and then began indiscriminately murdering students. “It was horrible; there was shooting everywhere,” student Augustine Alanga told the BBC. Student Eric Wekesa told Reuters that he locked himself in his room. “What I managed to hear from them is, ‘We came to kill or finally be killed.’ That’s what…

Morocco’s Gnawa festival attracts hundreds of thousands of people — but it’s about more than music and color. It has come to symbolize the fight against ISIS and extremism. Each Gnawa group, or Islamic “brotherhood,” is dressed in different, elaborate, colored robes. They sing, breaking off for whirling dance routines, and are accompanied by hand drums and deafening metal castanets. The Gnawa are devout Muslims, but their religion, like their music, is something of a fusion. Their belief in the spirit world and in the power of music to heal through trance ceremonies is a reminder of their links to…

A 26-year-old bicyclist from Eritrea was honored as the King of the Mountains during the sixth stage at the Tour de France in July 2015. Daniel Teklehaimanot proudly put on the maillot à pois rouges, also known as the polka dot jersey, symbolizing his victory in the stage. He took the jersey after surging to the top of the three small climbs that made up the 190-kilometer stretch from Abbeville to Le Havre. “What a moment for African cycling! What a moment for Eritrea, and what a moment for Daniel Teklehaimanot as he gives the thumbs up!” shouted a BBC…

Top Kenyan athletes, including former world marathon record holders Wilson Kipsang and Tegla Loroupe, staged a 22-day “Walk for Peace” against ethnic violence. Cattle rustling and revenge killings among rival communities are common in Kenya’s remote and impoverished northern regions, an area awash with automatic weapons. The 836-kilometer walk was organized by former Commonwealth Games marathon champion John Kelai, who marched in memory of three of his uncles who were killed in cattle raids when he was a teenager. The walk began in July 2015. Ethiopia borders northern Kenya, and armed cattle herders launch raids on each side of the…

A boy, a sheep and a stunning mountain landscape. These are the three stars of Lamb, a poignant film directed by 36-year-old Yared Zeleke. In May 2015, it became Ethiopia’s first entry in France’s prestigious Cannes International Film Festival. Shot in the highlands and forests of northern and central Ethiopia, Lamb tells the story of 9-year-old Ephraim and his beloved pet, a sheep named Chuni. The animal follows Ephraim around like a devoted dog and plays the role of best friend. When the film begins, Ephraim has lost his mother in an ongoing famine and, in order to survive, his…