ADF

Mali’s ruling junta has paid nearly $1 billion to Russian mercenaries since 2021 in an effort to stop the spread of Islamic terrorists and Tuareg rebels. However, analysts say it’s unclear what the country has gotten for its money. Years of Russian brutality, including the 2023 Moura massacre of 300 Fulani men, have undermined public support for the government in the north and central regions of the country. The Russian-backed attacks on Kidal in 2023 effectively ended the 2015 peace agreement with the Tuaregs and led to late April’s retreat from that same town after the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA)…

As 2025 wound down, four African regions continued to endure terrorist threats: the Sahel, particularly Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger; the Lake Chad Basin, including northern Nigeria and Cameroon; Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province; and Somalia. A toxic mix of al-Qaida and Islamic State group (IS) affiliates have emerged and spread in the past 15 years. Attacks in the Sahel have grown significantly with terrorists threatening — and sometimes crossing — borders into coastal nations such as Benin and Togo. In East Africa, Somali and African Union-backed international forces battle brutal al-Shabaab terrorists. To the south, IS-affiliated terrorists have survived…

This year, Togo is expected to receive four Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft worth $82 million. Designed for low-intensity conflicts, the Brazilian aircraft is expected to bolster Togo’s fight against the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM) terror group, which has expanded its operations from Burkina Faso and other parts of the Sahel region toward coastal West Africa. The A-29 deal includes pilot training and technical maintenance assistance. The aircraft, known for their effectiveness in counterinsurgency operations in difficult terrain, will operate mainly out of the northern Niamtougou Fighter Base to increase surveillance and firepower in an area of…

Covering 60,000 square kilometers, the Sambisa Forest in northeast Nigeria was once a thriving wildlife reserve, popular with tourists. Today, the animals are mostly gone, replaced by two warring militant groups and the Soldiers who pursue them. Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have fought for control of the forest since Boko Haram split into the two factions in 2016. Recent reports indicate their battles are intensifying. With its sheer size and dense vegetation providing cover for hideouts, Sambisa is desired as a strategic location for launching attacks and controlling smuggling routes. “For…

Russia is attempting to build its own financial system in Africa using a cryptocurrency tied to the ruble in what experts believe is an effort to evade international banking sanctions imposed after the 2022 Ukraine invasion. According to the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), the currency, known as A7, already has found users in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Togo could be next — the company that owns the currency is advertising for a project manager to develop a system for it there. A7 was started in 2024 by Ilan Sor, a Moldovan oligarch in partnership with Promsvyazbank, a lender tied to…

The 15th iteration of Obangame Express (OE26) returned in April to Cameroon, the country that first hosted the maritime security event in 2010. The largest multinational maritime exercise in West and Central Africa, OE26 worked to build cooperation to fight sea crimes such as illegal fishing, piracy and all manner of trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea. More than 30 nations, including 22 from Africa, participated in the U.S. Africa Command-sponsored exercise, designed to improve information sharing and maritime domain awareness, as well as tactical and operational readiness. “With piracy, illegal fishing, various forms of trafficking and attacks faced on…

Since inviting Russian mercenaries into Mali in 2021, the country’s ruling junta has focused its attention on subduing northern Tuareg rebels. Analysts believe the decision has let terror groups Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State Sahel expand their presence in the country and threaten Mali’s economy with blockades. Aided by Russia’s Africa Corps, the Malian military’s heavy-handed approach has killed thousands of people suspected of being rebels or terrorists simply because of their ethnicity. Those killings — many of them summary executions — have, in turn, helped those same groups recruit new members. “While they were concentrating their…

Foreign countries are in a race to secure port agreements along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but an analyst is warning about the risk of such arrangements. According to Makda Girma, a senior researcher at Horn Review magazine, such deals often allow foreign navies or contractors to make critical decisions that bypass “already-weak local institutions” in and around Somalia. This causes discontent in coastal communities and creates areas where “international security rules trump local fisheries or trade ministries, carving out de facto foreign authority right under the flag of national control,” Girma wrote. He terms these arrangements that…

More than 5,600 people from about 40 nations studied new military technology during Exercise African Lion in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia from April 20 to May 8. “This iteration focused heavily on innovation and advanced technology alongside humanitarian aid, reflecting the constructive dynamics that makes African Lion exercise a truly valuable opportunity for all participants,” Moroccan Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Reda Shuaib said after the final field exercise in Tan-Tan, Morocco. The largest multinational military exercise on the continent, African Lion is also United States Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) largest annual joint exercise. Organized by U.S. Army Southern European Task…

An expanding swath of Islamic terrorism stretching from western Mali through the Lake Chad Basin to Somalia and Mozambique accounted for nearly all terrorism-related deaths on the African continent in 2025, according to a new report. In 2025, nearly 24,000 people died in terrorist violence across Africa, up 24% from the previous year, according to research by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. The 10 deadliest terror attacks worldwide were in sub-Saharan African, with six of those in Burkina Faso alone, according to the most recent edition of the Global Terrorism Index. The Sahel nations, which have been…