ADF

Months after M23 rebels launched an offensive and seized the two largest cities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, eyewitnesses, the United Nations and human rights groups are accusing the militants of a host of possible war crimes. M23’s efforts to consolidate control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, included the executions of at least 21 civilians, according to nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW). The group said it received credible reports of dozens of more killings. “The M23’s brutal control over Goma has created a climate of fear among those perceived to be allied to the…

The Islamic State group in Mozambique (ISM) is expanding its area of operations and its tactics. In the past year, the terrorists have stretched out from their strongholds around the towns of Macomia, Mocímboa da Praia and Muidumbe in northeast Cabo Delgado province, attacking or being seen in 14 of the province’s 15 districts. ISM’s surge of recent attacks also included neighboring Niassa province to the west of Cabo Delgado. Experts say a series of high-profile attacks underscored the group’s resurgence and growing confidence while achieving a goal of raising its profile. Two deadly raids on tourist wildlife sites in…

As peacekeeping missions are scaled back or shut down in Africa, the Rwanda Defence Force  (RDF) is gaining a reputation for stepping in to effectively fill security gaps. In the Central African Republic, the RDF since 2020 has protected high-ranking officials from rebel groups, trained young Central African Soldiers and deployed more than 2,000 forces to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country. Brig. Gen. Ronald Rwivanga, RDF spokesman, said the CAR’s security situation is now “relatively calm.” “We successfully repelled the rebels,” Rwivanga told The Africa Report. “We are protecting the president, the city of Bangui and a…

Recent drone attacks in Darfur and Port Sudan were part of rising tensions between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as they try to influence the outcome of Sudanese war, according to experts. Turkey has provided the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with Bayraktar TB2 drones and Turkish operators. The UAE repeatedly has denied backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). However international monitors have reported Emirati aircraft arriving at a Darfur airstrip. They also say materiel is being smuggled in from an UAE-built airstrip in Chad, Emirati air bases in Uganda and Somalia’s Puntland region, and from UAE-backed forces…

The security challenges facing the African continent in the 21st century are too much for any nation to tackle on its own, which makes regional cooperation and continental unity imperative for the future. That was the message Africa’s top military leaders heard repeatedly during the 2025 Africa Chiefs of Defense (ACHOD) summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, at the end of May. The conference drew representatives from 36 African nations along with their international partners for several days of frank discussions and face-to-face interactions. Attendees included leaders from Mali, Niger and Somalia — three nations that are actively engaged in fighting…

India and 10 African countries have completed a first-of-its-kind naval exercise in the Indian Ocean. The six-day drill, known as the Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement (Aikeyme), ended April 18. The exercise, co-hosted by the Indian Navy and the Tanzania People’s Defense Force, was held at Dar es Salaam. Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa also participated in the exercise, which included harbor and port phases. During Aikeyme’s opening ceremony, Stergomena Lawrence Tax, Tanzania’s minister of Defense and National Service, highlighted the goal of establishing an enduring framework of maritime security, including innovation and information sharing.…

When authorities in Namibia discovered a Chinese-led “pig butchering” cryptocurrency investment scam in late 2023, they arrested 14 people, including nine Chinese nationals. Authorities charged the group with 222 counts of fraud, racketeering, money laundering, human trafficking and other offenses. “The scam involves a three-stage process: find, raise and slaughter,” Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa said in her affidavit, which was made public in January. Once the victim’s cryptocurrency investment is deemed to have grown fat enough, she explained, it gets slaughtered. “As the investor commits more financially, the scam culminates in a sudden and devastating loss. The investor’s funds disappear,…

There’s a new front in the Lake Chad region’s war against terrorism — the online video platform TikTok. Terrorist groups have long weaponized social media worldwide for recruitment, financing and communication. In the Lake Chad Basin, where a violent extremist insurgency has raged since 2009, Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have taken to TikTok, the Chinese-developed video platform known as much for its security vulnerabilities as its popularity with young people. After months of gains by Nigerian security forces, April saw both groups resurgent with deadly attacks throughout Borno State. At least 100 people were…

A terror group known as Mahmuda has attacked rural villages and communities in north-central Nigeria’s Kwara and Niger States, often in and around Kainji Lake National Park. On April 20, the armed group, wearing camouflage and riding motorcycles, attacked a Kwara market and shot dead four Fulani men, a local guard and a 19-year-old who was hit by a stray bullet. “We suspect that they came with a premeditated motive because they fired at the Fulani at close range shooting them in the head,” an anonymous source told Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper. The source said the guard was holding a…

The departure of three Sahelian nations from West Africa’s regional economic system at the end of January undercut collective counterterrorism efforts from Senegal to Nigeria. Restoring that system means overcoming mistrust between the nations of the Sahel and their neighbors, according to experts. One starting point on that journey, according to analyst Eric Tevoedjre of Benin, may be a new diplomatic agreement between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, now operating as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). “Maintaining good relations with the AES states is a strategic imperative for ECOWAS,” Tevoedjre…