ADF

ADF STAFF Sahelian junta leaders claim their new regional bloc will help them fight extremists and share economic resources. However, observers believe the turn inward, combined with a shift toward Russia, is likely to worsen the violence and insecurity that plagues all three countries. In early July, the military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed documents creating the Confederation of Sahel States (CES), the successor to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a mutual defense pact created in September 2023, less than two months after Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum’s presidential guard overthrew him. Along with creating the new…

ADF STAFF Rampant terrorism has destabilized the Sahel for years and played a role in military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Despite their promises of security, the juntas have largely failed to stop terror attacks. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries are in the region and have been accused of widespread human rights abuses. Now another contingent of mercenaries has entered the fray, facilitated by a Turkish private military company called Sadat. “All three countries rely on Turkish drones and have close personal contacts in the Turkish defense industry,” analyst Liam Karr, of the Institute for the Study of War,…

ADF STAFF Nigerien Chief of Staff of the Army Col. Maj. Mamane Sani Kiaou has worked closely with the United States military in recent months to arrange for the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from the West African country. Kiaou and a delegation from Niger’s Ministry of National Defense took part in a handover ceremony on July 7, as the last few U.S. troops boarded a C-17 transport plane and departed Air Base 101 in Niamey. “The effective cooperation and communication between the U.S. and Nigerien armed forces ensured that this turnover was finished ahead of schedule and without any…

ADF STAFF In a region facing terrorism, coups and transnational organized crime, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have long sought to build a standby force to bolster security. Member nations’ defense and finance ministers recently proposed an ambitious $2.6 billion security plan that would support a 5,000-strong force, but analysts warn that the plan will face challenges of funding and political divisions within the bloc. “More than ever, we are at a pivotal moment in the history of our community to address insecurity,” ECOWAS Commission president Omar Alieu Touray said at a meeting in Abuja,…

ADF STAFF The Botswana Defence Force took possession of a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft provided by the U.S. in a transfer ceremony during the African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Gaborone. Known for its toughness and versatility, the $30 million C-130 is used in a variety of missions, including fighting wildfires, delivering humanitarian aid, and conducting search, rescue and defense missions. It will also enhance the Botswana Defence Force’s (BDF) ability to respond to regional challenges, including peacekeeping operations, disaster relief and logistical support. “This C-130H couldn’t have come at a better time than at this moment,” Thomas Kagiso Mmusi,…

ADF STAFF China has eclipsed Russia as the largest exporter of arms to Sub-Saharan Africa. These weapons — including drones, rockets, artillery, armored vehicles, aircraft, firearms, ammunition, missiles, space systems, radar and electronic warfare systems — are flowing into conflict zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and many other areas. “China is economically more or less dominant in [Africa], which brought in quite a lot of influence, so now they are expanding their efforts in security affairs,” Earl Conteh-Morgan, a specialist in Chinese-African relations at the University of South Florida, told France 24. At least 21 countries…

ADF STAFF Information warfare has become a ubiquitous threat in nearly all of Africa’s violent conflicts. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and the Sahel region, social media platforms have augmented hate speech and disinformation campaigns. Experts such as Somali economist Abdullahi Alim are warning that new technology, specifically those powered by artificial intelligence (AI), have the power to bring far greater devastation and war to a continent already struggling with ethnic, communal and racial fractures. “Low levels of digital literacy, fragile politics and limited online safety systems render the continent ripe for hate speech…

ADF STAFF Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have added Sennar state, a key agricultural region, to their zone of control as they sweep through the southern parts of the country with little resistance from the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). At the end of June, RSF fighters in armed pickup trucks attacked Singa, the capital of Sennar, and took over the SAF’s 17th Infantry Division headquarters. Fighters also looted homes and shops and took over Singa’s primary hospital. “They did like what they did in (the capital) Khartoum and other cities,” Abdel-Rahman al-Taj, a Singa resident who fled on July…

ADF STAFF Of all the weapons at their disposal, Sudan’s two warring generals have turned in recent months to one that is cheap, familiar and devastating: starvation. “Both the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) are using food as a weapon and starving civilians,” a panel of United Nations experts reported recently. They described the situation in Sudan as unprecedented. About 25.6 million people — half of Sudan’s population — face a food crisis across 14 areas, including Darfur, Khartoum and al-Gezira, the heart of Sudan’s agricultural zone. As many as 2.5 million people could die…

ADF STAFF Violent extremist organizations from northern Benin and Burkina Faso are increasingly targeting northern Togo as conflicts from the Sahel spill into coastal countries. Four people on a tricycle in the north-central town of Bonzougou were killed June 18 after riding over an improvised explosive device (IED). Several terror groups operate in the Savannahs region, although none claimed responsibility for the attack, Togo’s L’Alternative newspaper reported. The attack in Bonzougou is farther south into Togo’s territory than previous attacks. Five days later, hooded terrorists ambushed the northern town of Bamone, slit the throats of three people and took their…