ADF

For decades, The Gambia has been a major source of African rosewood, which is prized by Chinese furniture makers for its significance as an indicator of wealth and nobility. Despite a 2022 government ban on all timber exports, The Gambia remains an important source of the millions of metric tons of rosewood China imports every year. Smugglers move the timber illegally harvested in southern Senegal’s Casamance region, shipping it from the port in The Gambia’s capital, Banjul, with the help of corrupt port authorities and police. “Things have got more difficult recently, but it’s not impossible if you have the…

Ghana’s government has unveiled a plan to empower its youthful population, which holds the key to the country’s economic development. It also could hold the key to keeping terrorism at bay. According to the World Data Lab, in 2024 an estimated 6.9 million people in northern Ghana lived in extreme poverty, defined at a threshold of living on or below $2.15 a day. Youth unemployment has risen across the country, and most of the employed have low-paying and unstable jobs that offer little or no long-term security. “This is a national security risk, and we must tackle it aggressively,” George…

The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces is set to receive the first three AH-64E Apache combat helicopters purchased from the United States. Morocco in June 2020 ordered 24 AH-64Es in a deal worth $440 million after requesting the aircraft in late 2019. The agreement includes an option to purchase 12 additional choppers made by Boeing. Christina Upah, vice president of attack helicopter programs at Boeing, said the helicopters will enhance Morocco’s defense forces “for years to come.” “Boeing’s partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco spans decades, and I am proud the Apache is now part of this legacy,” Upah told Morocco…

Pharmacist Al-Samani Alhaj felt blood flowing from his head when he heard gunshots from an adjacent room in his busy hospital in northern Khartoum. Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had stormed the building, accused doctors of treating the Sudanese Army and hit Alhaj when he told them the facility was only used by civilians. He stumbled into the next room and found the body of his friend, Musaab, on the floor. “He was swimming in his own blood,” Alhaj told Deutsche Welle for a video report posted in January. “His chest was open. We could see his…

The autonomous state of Puntland has intensified its military campaign against the Islamic State group, which is entrenched in the Cal Miskaad range of the Golis mountains of northeastern Somalia. After months of preparations, Puntland’s security forces recently launched Operation Lightning, an offensive seeking to dismantle IS-Somalia’s command structure. The stakes have grown, however, since the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team reported in February that there is “growing confidence” that the leader of IS-Somalia, Abdulqadir Mumin, also heads the terrorist group’s global operations as its leader or “caliph.” Previous U.N. intelligence reports suggested that Mumin had been elevated to lead…

Military gains by the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum State may mean that there is an end in sight to the country’s two-year civil war, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Yusuf said recently. Yusuf’s comments, made during a February 10 meeting in Egypt with foreign ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Sudan, came as the SAF gained ground in Kafouri Bahri, a stronghold of its rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Army deployed warplanes and heavy artillery in Kafouri Bahri, which is 7 kilometers northeast of Khartoum, the capital. Days before Yusuf spoke in Cairo, the SAF, led by…

Clashes are ongoing in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where an ethnically based militia known as the Fano is battling the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) for control. In January, fighting broke out in Debre Birhan, a town 120 kilometers north of the capital, Addis Ababa. Fano militants used conventional and ambush attacks against government forces, the website Borkena reported. Fighting also was reported in the towns of Wollo, Gojjam and Gondar. “The conflict continues to escalate, with widespread violence and heavy clashes across the Amhara region and parts of Oromia,” Hone Mandefro, of the Amhara Association of America, and Henok Ashagray, of…

Traditional rulers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria are organizing across borders to bolster the fight against extremism and terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin. The first Regional Meeting of Traditional Rulers of the Lake Chad Basin took place on January 27 and 28 in Maiduguri, Nigeria, with leaders resolving to tackle root causes of insecurity, including extreme poverty, unemployment, inequality, violence against women and the lack of cross-border cooperation. “The ultimate goal of our efforts is to create a resilient Lake Chad Basin region, a region where people can live in peace, access opportunities and build better futures for…

Since the 2022 resurgence of the M23 rebel group in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sought to defend its sovereignty with a military strategy that has relied heavily on proxies, coalitions, mercenaries and allied forces. It has produced a confusing mix of combatants far from the capital, Kinshasa. Neither of the regional forces from Eastern and Southern Africa have brought stability, while local pro-government militias called Wazalendo (Swahili for “patriots”) and M23 rebels have fought each other and terrorized civilians with impunity. Continuing to look for ways to supplement the Congolese armed forces (FARDC), the government…

In a sweeping operation that covered multiple East African countries, Afripol recently announced the arrest of 37 terrorism suspects and the destruction of weapons, including a missile and antitank armaments. The operation in November and December 2024 netted members of the Islamic State group (IS) and al-Shabaab, along with other foreign fighters. Working with Interpol, Afripol authorities made arrests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. In the DRC, police arrested four alleged members of the Allied Democratic Forces and two associates. They also captured and destroyed a missile and antitank device abandoned by terrorists. In…