ADF

Maj. Gen. Fructueux Gbaguidi, an Army officer with more than 35 years of experience, has studied and trained at institutions in France, Madagascar, Senegal and the United States. During his career in the Beninese Armed Forces (FAB), he served as commander of the 1st Combat Company of Benin’s Rapid Intervention Battalion, aide-de-camp to the chief of the general staff and commander of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion. He held leadership roles at the National Higher Training School for the Army and the National School for Non-Commissioned Officers. He served as chief of army staff from 2016 to 2022 before being…

In a grueling, eight-day exercise spread across three departments in Benin’s southern zone, members of the National Guard were pushed to their limits.  They rescued hostages, put down insurrections and warded off ambushes. They rappelled from cliffs, navigated high rope courses and dropped from helicopters hovering over water.  The scenarios were fictional, but the real test was coming soon. Many of the 560 Soldiers training in July 2025 were expected to deploy to the north of the country to take part in Operation Mirador, Benin’s military mission to contain a growing terror threat.  “They are training and developing the reflexes necessary…

The Tunisian Air Force has taken delivery of a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, the fourth from the United States since 2021. U.S. officials handed over the aircraft in a ceremony at Sidi Ahmed Air Base in Bizerte on January 13. During the ceremony, Tunisian Minister of National Defense Khaled Sehili praised the strategic partnership between the two countries, saying it was based on common interests and mutual respect. He said Tunisia and the U.S. are working together to develop the operational capabilities of the national army, providing special equipment and supplies, intensifying training and exercise programs, exchanging experiences and providing…

With an exclusive economic zone estimated at 160,000 square kilometers, the financial health of the Comoros Islands is linked to the water. However, all eyes were on the sky on January 23, when a contingent from the United States Navy arrived on two MV-22 Ospreys and a KC-130 Hercules transport aircraft for an exchange of military expertise. Comorian Minister of Defense Youssoufa Mohamed Ali and Brig. Gen. Youssouf Idjihadi, chief of the Defense Staff of the National Development Army, were on hand in the capital, Moroni, to meet with U.S. Brig. Gen. Matthew W. Brown, commander of the Combined Joint…

Russia’s presence in Equatorial Guinea recently expanded to include a new cultural center in the capital, Malabo. The facility mirrors 16 operations in other African countries, such as the Central African Republic, where Russia aims to expand its influence. More than half of Russia’s 28 cultural centers worldwide are in Africa. The new cultural center recently held a screening of “Blockade Diary,” a propaganda film Russia uses to recruit new fighters for its ongoing war against Ukraine. The cultural center opening follows the 2024 deployment of more than 200 Africa Corps mercenaries to Equatorial Guinea to protect President Teodoro Obiang…

Nearly a decade after China’s Mawei Mining Co. Ltd. received a license to extract rare-earth minerals from a site on Lake Malawi, the property remains largely untouched and has quietly changed hands in violation of Malawian law. “There used to be Chinese people here,” 58-year-old farmer Alinafe Mbewe told researchers with the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) and Finance Uncovered. “They told us this place would change. We waited. Nothing changed.” The mine sits near the village of Makanjira. The only evidence of a project that was supposed to generate millions of dollars of state revenue for 20 years is…

The Rwanda Defence Force is extending its military presence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where terrorists attacked more than 500 times between January and August 2025. Analysts say Mozambican forces are overstretched and insufficiently equipped to contain the insurgent campaign, led by the Islamic State Mozambique (ISM), which in late 2025 ramped up attacks on military positions and civilian areas in the Mocímboa da Praia and Palma districts. Terrorists also have attacked some districts in the neighboring Nampula and Niassa provinces, prompting Mozambique’s call for additional external military support. In response, Rwanda has deployed fresh troops, airlift assets and logistics…

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on January 15 pursued rival Sudanese Armed Forces-affiliated (SAF) militias from the Darfur region into Chad and attacked a Chadian Army camp, killing seven soldiers and destroying combat vehicles. The attack came after a week of fighting in the Sudanese town of Tine, North Darfur State, one of the last areas in the region where fighting between the RSF and SAF continues. On December 26, two Chadian Soldiers were killed in a strike on an Army camp by a drone originating from Sudan, two days after the RSF briefly seized the North Darfur border…

At 32 years old, Claude Hakorimana has witnessed firsthand how his native Rwanda has become one of the continent’s success stories in clamping down on poaching and wildlife trafficking. At 14, he began hunting buffalo, wild boar and zebra from a community bordering Volcanoes National Park. Poaching was how his family and many others survived. Then local leaders, government officials and conservationists began educating the surrounding communities, explaining a host of issues. They explained the legal ramifications of poaching and trading wildlife parts, enforcement measures, and the long-term damage caused by poaching to wildlife, tourism and local livelihoods. “We were…

The Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) on January 26 entered the disputed Ethiopian territory of Tselemt in the northwestern Tigray region, clashing with federal troops and militias from the neighboring Amhara region. Three days later, the TDF moved into Korem and Alamata in southern Tigray’s contested Raya district, without apparent federal resistance, the International Crisis Group reported. The federal government then canceled all flights to the region and on January 31 conducted two drone strikes in central Tigray. This prompted analysts to warn that continued fighting in Tigray could ignite another war. Tigray, the northernmost region of Ethiopia, has been in…