ADF

The defense partnership between Kenya and France reached a new phase in mid-March when three French warships and more than 800 French military personnel docked at the Port of Mombasa during a mission focused on training and maritime security cooperation. The deployment of the Aconit, a frigate, and Dixmude, an amphibious assault ship, aimed to strengthen the countries’ defense ties and secure vital shipping lanes in the Western Indian Ocean. The region faces threats such as human trafficking, illegal fishing, maritime terrorism, and various other forms of smuggling and trafficking. An offshore Finch patrol vessel also participated in the mission.…

Four Chinese fishing vessels in late February were found operating illegally inside South Africa’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and territorial waters without the required permits. The vessels repeatedly switched off their automatic identification system (AIS) transponders, a common practice among illegal fishing offenders. Owned by Shenzhen Shuiwan Pelagic Fisheries, the vessels were tracked 12 nautical miles from the KwaZulu-Natal coast and along the Eastern Cape coastline. The captains of the Zhong Yang 231, Zhong Yang 232, Zhong Yang 233 and Zhong Yang 239 each were fined about $24,118 before leaving the country. “South Africa will not tolerate the unlawful use of its…

Algeria expanded African nations’ presence in space this year with the launch of two satellites in two weeks in January. ALSAT-3A and ALSAT-3B brought to 69 the number of satellites African countries have launched into orbit since Egypt’s NileSat-101 in 1998. Space has become an important frontier for African countries eager to flex their technological muscles and gather data about weather, food security, population movements and other information to help them plan for the future. Algeria developed ALSAT-3A and 3B to deliver high-resolution images of Earth that will boost its capacity for land-use planning and disaster prevention. They came after…

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) airstrike that killed at least seven people and injured dozens more during a funeral on March 27 in the Nuba Mountains. The region near the South Sudan border was far from the front lines when Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023, but that has gradually changed since 2025, after the SPLM-N elected to join forces with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the SAF. The SPLM-N controls most of South Kordofan State, which encompasses the mountains. Led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, the RSF uses…

As they seek to exert more control over portions of northeastern Nigeria, terrorist groups have attacked military outposts across the region and killed dozens of Soldiers. On April 13, terrorists from Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) attacked a military base in the Borno State community of Monguno. Among the dead was the base commander, Col. I.A. Muhammed, along with four Soldiers. A week earlier, an attack on a base in Benesheikh, also in Borno, killed an unconfirmed number of Soldiers along with the base’s commander, Brig. Gen. Oseni Omoh Braimah. The attacks were the latest in a string of…

A series of explosions in Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital, began around 6:15 p.m. on March 31 and did not end until about midnight. The blasts killed at least 13 people and wounded 57 more, including three Burundian Soldiers. Officials said the explosions, which sent projectiles raining down on nearby neighborhoods and plumes of smoke rising above the city were sparked by an electrical accident at the main ammunition depot of the Burundi National Defence Force (FDNB) main ammunition depot in the densely populated suburb of Musaga. The fire spread quickly and triggered a wave of explosions felt well beyond the…

Social media companies have uncovered an effort by Russia to create a fake expert to spread false information in Africa. Russian operatives used a popular artificial intelligence platform to create content for a fictitious academic and geopolitical commentator named “Dr. Manuel Godsin” to infiltrate mainstream media in Africa with pro-Kremlin propaganda. OpenAI said it received a tip from Meta, which owns and operates Facebook, that a Russian network was targeting African audiences with content generated by its large language model application, ChatGPT. The app is trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like language, code, and…

Islamic State’s recent attack on a Chinese-owned gold mine along the Ituri River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the first of its kind for the group and demonstrated a shift in both tactics and strategy, according to analysts. The Muchacha mine in the eastern Ituri Province employs thousands of workers, both Chinese and Congolese, and was protected by the 311th Battalion of the Congolese Army (FARDC) under a contract with the owner, China-based Mimia Mining. According to social media reports, attackers with the Islamic State Central African Province (ISCAP) claimed to have killed seven FARDC Soldiers during…

The United States is helping Kenya secure its waters by investing in a new Marine Range and Close Quarters Battle training complex at the Kenya Navy Base in Mtongwe, Mombasa County. Designed to boost the skills of Kenyan marine commandos, the $750,483 facility features a 100-meter small arms range and a live-fire shooting range that can simulate realistic combat scenarios. It also includes areas designed to sharpen combat readiness and support maritime security operations along Kenya’s coast and the western Indian Ocean. It was commissioned March 25. At the facility’s commissioning, Commander of the Kenya Navy, Maj. Gen. Paul Otieno…

Community mediation practitioners in Nigeria are showing that early intervention can stop conflict before it escalates to large-scale violence. Felicia Ilujunka of Lokoja, Nigeria, in Kogi State knows this well. She is quick to smile, but as a teacher for 35 years, she’s known for her contempt for bad behavior. Affectionately known as “big mummy” and “lady evangelist” in her Oworo community, she learned that she was gifted at mediating disputes. Ilujunka intervened when a young man from the Ebira tribe stabbed a man from the Igala ethnic group. As people gathered and demanded that Ebira people be expelled from…