ADF

Allegations of weapons smuggling have set off a new war of words between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The long-simmering dispute threatens to draw in regional powers and plunge the Horn of Africa back into conflict. On January 14, Ethiopian federal police said they intercepted a truck in Woldia carrying 57,000 rounds of ammunition. Ethiopian officials alleged that the ammunition came from Eritrea and was being shipped to the Fano, an ethnically Amhara militia waging war against Ethiopia’s government. In a statement, Ethiopian police said Eritrea had been caught “red handed” trying to arm rebels and destabilize the country. Eritrea’s information minister…

Illegal mining by Chinese companies in Nigeria is undercutting the nation’s economy, degrading the environment and driving residents from their homes in part by exploiting weak regulations and corrupt security forces, according to a new analysis. The report by Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), a Nigerian nongovernmental organization, titled “Silent Conquest: The Chinese Infiltration of Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector,” focuses on mining between 2018 and 2025. It pays particular attention to the period since 2022, when Nigeria put more emphasis on mining minerals to diversify an economy dominated by oil and natural gas. Researchers studied mineral-rich states — Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa,…

Since the Sudanese town of El Fasher fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26, 2025, the capital of North Darfur has been the site of mass graves and RSF-run detention centers. Locals say kidnappings for ransom are common, as is sexual violence against women and girls held in displacement camps. An investigation by the Sudan Tribune revealed that the RSF has detained most of the city’s male population, sparing only a small number of the elderly, women and children. Sources said key RSF detention sites include student dormitories, government buildings and a mosque. There are also…

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh ran a Facebook group helping Arab students go to Moscow to study. Now the former teacher has a much deadlier job — deceiving and coercing Africans into fighting for Russia on the frontlines in Ukraine. “She works to secure volunteers into the Russian army,” journalist Rayan Maarouf told the BBC. “She started a group on Telegram, promoting herself. She publishes updates on how to join the Russian Army. … She has connections in each country through which she recruits people.” The Russian Ministry of Defense has used informal recruiters around the…

From coast to coast, Turkey is working to forge ties with African nations, often as a security partner for weapons purchases and military training, and as an investor in infrastructure projects. Turkey believes it can position itself as an alternative option able to negotiate sophisticated military deals without any of the drawbacks of partnering with China, Russia or traditional Western allies. “Ankara acts as a unique geopolitical hybrid: a NATO member with NATO-standard military capabilities, yet a diplomat that speaks the language of the Global South,” Göktuğ Çalışkan, a foreign policy analyst at the Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy…

Lakurawa, which began as a self-defense force in northwestern Nigeria, has evolved into a Boko Haram-aligned terrorist organization, preying on civilians and imposing its own strict version of Islamic law wherever it goes. “Lakurawa now cooperates with Boko Haram and operates as a hybrid actor, blurring the line between religious extremism and organized crime,” analysts Taiwo Adebayo, Célestin Delanga, and Remadji Hoinathy wrote recently for the Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS). According to the researchers, Lakurawa operates primarily in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto and Kebbi states and in bordering regions of Benin and Niger. Tense relations with Niger’s ruling junta have…

As Russia’s war on Ukraine staggers into its fifth year, the Kremlin is turning to increasingly deceptive and unusual recruiting methods. While playing a first-person military simulation game called Arma 3, two young South African men met a recruiter named @Dash on the social platform Discord. After several conversations, they met in Cape Town before visiting the Russian consulate, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg news service. “There have been quite a few examples of Russia recruiting people from around the African continent, but this is the first time we’ve come across them using gamers,” Bloomberg senior writer Antony Sguazzin…

ADF STAFF About 160 suspected members of the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terror group on January 11 attacked three factories and kidnapped four civilians, including a local official, in western Mali’s Kayes region. JNIM, like other terror groups in the Sahel, kidnaps for ransom to fund its operations, intimidate locals and gather intelligence. Kidnapping also is a way to forcibly recruit young people and skilled workers such as doctors and nurses. The kidnapping of local civilians for ransom is an evolving trend among these groups, which once relied more heavily on the kidnapping of foreigners for ransom. This change in…

To help Mauritania address growing security threats from the Sahel region and West Africa, the United States government in December 2025 donated a shipment of operational military equipment which will enhance field performance during upcoming military exercises, such as Flintlock 2026, which will be held in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire. Mauritanian political figure Daddai Bibaut noted that U.S. support has helped keep Mauritania free of terror attacks since 2011, although there are encroaching cross-border security threats, including those from the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terror group. JNIM in August 2025 captured the Malian town of Farabougou, near the Wagadou…

More than 570 cybercriminals were arrested as part of a sweeping international operation aimed at stopping online fraud operations. Interpol’s Operation Sentinel, part of its African Joint Operation Against Cybercrime, focused on cybercrime that involved business email compromise, digital extortion and ransomware. Business email compromise is a technique that uses the identity of a trusted figure, such as a company officer, to trick employees into providing money or revealing corporate secrets. Digital extortion and ransomware are similar methods of stealing personal information or locking down a computer system and then demanding money from the victim to regain access. The monthlong…