ADF

A young Togolese student was lured to Russia last year by a scholarship offer. But instead of studying at a university, he was sent to the front lines of Russia’s war with Ukraine, where he was one of several Togolese nationals captured and detained by Ukrainian forces. The Martin Luther King Movement (MMLK), a Togolese human rights organization, alerted authorities to the young man’s case in March. In a statement, the MMLK said the man received his study visa at the Russian Embassy in Cotonou, Benin, and left for Russia on August 21, 2024. “Arriving in Russia, he was forced…

Tunisia has received two 34-meter, Island-class patrol boats from the United States government  to increase the country’s ability to secure its 1,148-kilometer coastline, which faces smuggling, organized crime and terrorism threats. The boats, named Tazarka and Menzel Bourguiba, were previously part of the U.S. Coast Guard fleet. They were refurbished and modernized before being transferred to Tunisia. According to Military Africa, the boats can reach speeds of 29.5 knots and have an operating range of more than 3,000 nautical miles. They have a 25-millimeter Mk 38 machine gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, and feature advanced radar and navigation systems.…

In response to recent advances by al-Shabaab, Turkey boosted its military presence in Somalia to protect buildings and critical infrastructure, such as the port, from terrorist attacks. “The Turkish troops are there solely to protect Turkish assets and to train and advise Somali forces. They will only engage al-Shabaab if absolutely necessary and in self-defense,” one unnamed source familiar with Turkey’s operations in Somalia told Middle East Eye. The deployment of 500 counterterrorism troops nearly triples Turkey’s current contingent of 300 people in Somalia. The new contingent includes 300 commandos and 200 personnel that will enhance Turkey’s drone operations against…

South Africa’s Border Management Authority has launched a new high-tech initiative aimed to tightening border security and curbing illicit trade that costs the country millions of dollars each year. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber recently announced the new security push, which includes using four quadcopter-style drones to monitor ports of entry and areas of the border known for illegal crossings. The drones can operate day and night. Their cameras can track targets 2 kilometers away and infrared cameras can detect the heat signatures of people crossing at night. Artificial intelligence (AI) helps identify and track objects. A laser rangefinder calculates…

At a market in the town of Sébabougou, in a part of western Mali that has been contested by terrorists for years, the Army and its Russian mercenary partners on April 12 arrested 100 men, mostly ethnic Fulani, and took 60 of them to an undisclosed location. More than a week later, having received no information, relatives went looking for their loved ones and discovered dozens of bodies near a Malian Armed Forces base 31 kilometers away. “They were all in an advanced state of decomposition, which makes their identification very difficult,” a witness told Radio France Internationale. “You really…

Cameroon and Nigeria are working to better secure their shared border following deadly attacks by Boko Haram and its offshoot. Boko Haram on March 25 killed 12 Cameroonian Soldiers and wounded 10 more in an attack that unfolded between midnight and 3 a.m. at a military base in the border town of Wulgo in northeast Nigeria’s Borno State. Reuters reported that the Boko Haram faction Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) also was involved in the assault. The Cameroonian Ministry of Defense said the terror groups used “advanced weaponry they increasingly have at their disposal.” The weapons included drones loaded with…

Ghana continues to make a stand against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, a scourge that costs the country between $14.4 million and $23.7 million annually. Ghana’s Fisheries Commission and Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture in April suspended the fishing licenses of four Chinese trawlers for a year over an array of violations. The vessels Meng Xin10, Florence 2, Long Xiang 607 and Long Xiang 608 are all flagged to Ghana but are beneficially owned by three Chinese companies, Ghana Business News reported. Chinese trawlers are notorious for using this practice, known as “flagging in,” in which they abuse local rules…

A recent nighttime assault on a Nigerian military base in northeastern Borno State began with four drones carrying grenades. Over the next few hours, Nigerian Soldiers posted near the border with Cameroon fended off an attack by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) until they received air support from the Nigerian Air Force. Five Soldiers died in the attack. Nigeria has spent years battling ISWAP terrorists in the northeastern states near Lake Chad. The deadly Wajikoro attack revealed that ISWAP has become the latest extremist group to weaponize commercially available drones. Weaponized drones boost ISWAP’s capacity to attack Soldiers…

In a video posted to social media, a Sudanese soldier dragged a man with a broken leg into a ditch on the edge of the city of Omdurman and shot him to death. He then used a long knife to cut off the man’s head while his companions cheered. That execution and desecration is one of several incidents in which members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allied militias are accused of committing war crimes as they retake land formerly held by the opposing paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). After retaking Khartoum and Omdurman from the RSF in…

With a significant rise in defense spending, Algeria is moving to modernize and expand the capacity of its People’s National Army. New acquisitions are bolstering its ground forces, air force and naval assets, and enhancing its intelligence and technological capabilities. Since 2023, Algeria’s military budget has risen by more than $2 billion annually. In 2024, it spent $21.6 billion. This year, it reached a record $25 billion. The official reason is homeland security. But seen through the prism of its historical rivalry, the buildup is a concern to neighboring Morocco. “Its status among the top 40 global military spenders is…