ADF

The Islamic State group’s two affiliates in West Africa rely on both modern cryptocurrency and hawala, a traditional person-to-person exchange, to finance their operations. Nigerian authorities are tightening their controls over both financial channels to undermine the terror groups. Islamic State’s Nigeria-based Maktab al-Furqan office oversees financial operations of both Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), operating in the Lake Chad Basin, and Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), headquartered in northern Mali. The two groups raise millions of dollars in revenue through a complex mix of extortion, kidnapping and zakat, a form of religious obligation that IS has exploited across…

Authorities convicted seven Chinese nationals in late February in South Africa on nearly 160 charges related to human trafficking, kidnapping, debt bondage, labor law violations and breaches of occupational health and safety regulations. Sentencing is scheduled for late April. Officers arrested them in 2019 at the Beautiful City blanket factory in Johannesburg, where authorities said they employed 91 undocumented Malawians between 2017 and 2019, South African online newspaper TimesLIVE reported. Acting on a tip, the Hawks’ Serious Organized Crime unit, a branch of the South African Police Service; Tactical Response Team members and Department of Labor officials broke into the factory…

Moroccan authorities have arrested more than a dozen Islamic State operatives, disrupting an attempt by extremists based in the Sahel to sow terror in the North African kingdom. The arrests in February came after raids on nine Islamic State group (IS) cell locations across the country, including in major cities such as Casablanca and Fez. Security authorities confiscated materials needed to make remotely controlled bombs along with knives, rifles and handguns with their serial numbers removed. The arrests were the latest in a string of anti-IS operations in Morocco. Between January 2023 and February 2024, for example, Moroccan authorities broke…

Puntland security forces made a surprising discovery when they took control of the remote town of Shebaab. Hidden beneath a vegetable farm, Soldiers uncovered a large, abandoned bunker that they believe was the primary operations center for top leaders of the Islamic State-Somalia group. The Puntland Defence Forces (PDF) found electrical wiring, lights, ventilation pipes, dry food, bedding, medical supplies, fuel and weapons beneath the farm in the remote town of Shebaab on February 24. They also discovered two mass graves in the town “where the terrorists buried some of their senior members,” the PDF posted on social media. Since…

Across the continent, Air Forces are striving to achieve air supremacy, neutralize threats and gather intelligence. They also play a pivotal role in humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. That occasionally overlooked role was the focus of the recent African Air Chiefs Symposium, where more than 240 participants from 38 nations gathered in Lusaka, Zambia, from February 17-21. Citing the ebb and flow of drought and floods in his country, Zambia Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Oscar Nyoni underscored the importance of bringing together air chiefs from across the continent. “Air Forces across Africa possess a unique capability to do more…

Somalia’s newest peacekeeping mission officially began on January 1, but the future of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM, is uncertain as the United Nations and African Union struggle to secure financing. “We are urging for predictable funding for AUSSOM. I hope our voices will be heard by the Security Council,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the 38th African Union Summit in mid-February. The 32-month-long African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and its predecessor, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), both depended on international donors. That funding structure was often unpredictable and,…

As Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advance, intense fighting has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sparking fears that the ripple effects in neighboring countries could cause a regional war. “Near the frontlines, sexual violence and human rights abuses remain rampant, as is the looting and destruction of civilian homes and businesses,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees  (UNHCR) said in a statement on March 4. Describing the crisis as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world, Patrick Eba, deputy director of UNHCR’s Division of International Protection,…

Due mainly to a decline in al-Shabaab-related deaths in Somalia, there were fewer fatalities related to militant Islamist violence on the continent in 2024. There were an estimated 18,900 fatalities linked to such violence in Africa in 2024, down from the previous year’s 23,000, the highest number on record, according to data collected by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS). However, the report said, the true numbers are likely far higher as military juntas in the Sahel, the continent’s most lethal theater for the fourth consecutive year, have imposed repressive measures on journalists, constraining reporting on militant Islamist violence.…

United States and Libyan personnel trained together in a mission that built capacity to conduct effective joint tactical air control. The work also had another goal: to promote the reunification of long-divided Libyan military and security institutions. The February 26 event, conducted on the ground and in the air in a sparse, desert locale near Sirte, Libya, involved U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), U.S. Strategic Command, and forces from Libya’s Government of National Unity and the Libyan National Army. Ground personnel working as joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) used laser range finders, Android tactical assault kits and GPS tools to gather…

As it expands its media footprint in Africa, China pushes its agenda through a complex web of state-controlled platforms, partnerships with local news outlets and journalist training programs. Some experts, however, are pointing to a growing backlash on the continent, as consumers grow in sophistication and a desire for independent media. Researcher Mitchell Gallagher calls it a “war for Africa’s media soul.” He said China aims to control and change perceptions, entrenching the narrative of Beijing as a benevolent provider of resources and assistance in Africa. “The ploy appears to be paying dividends, with evidence of sections of the media…