ADF

Opioids and other synthetic drugs are increasingly invading parts of Africa, attracting organized crime and overwhelming countries’ medical facilities, according to a new study. The proliferation of synthetic drugs has become a complex threat to public health and regional security, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime wrote in a March 2026 report. “Synthesis — Mapping Synthetic Drug Markets in West Africa,” concludes that traditional plant-based drugs, controlled by traditional criminal networks, “are gradually giving way to a fragmented and decentralized market of synthetic psychoactive compounds.” The researchers said the synthetic drugs are responsible for overdoses, chronic illnesses, severe mental…

A global study has concluded that Burkina Faso in West Africa is now the country most affected in the world by terrorism, even more than Mali, its troubled neighbor to the north. The latest Global Terrorism Index says that one-fourth of all extremist attacks worldwide, and nine of the world’s 20 deadliest attacks, came in Burkina Faso in 2024. Three such attacks came in late January and early February 2026, as terrorists with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal- (JNIM) killed at least 38 civilians, abducted nine women and burned property, Human Rights Watch said. The terrorists attacked Sollé village and Tiao…

Batot Air is a cargo service registered in the capital of Burkina Faso. However it appears to fly almost exclusively between the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, where Sudan’s military leadership claims the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces operates training camps just over the border from Sudan. An investigation by Le Monde newspaper tracked Batot Air’s activity since it began operating in November 2025. The airline operates Ilyushin-Il76 aircraft that spent the last decade sitting unused in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. According to Le Monde, the cargo planes have made at least 36 trips between the UAE and Ethiopia over the past four…

Medical teams from the Kenya Defence Forces and the United States Armed Forces pointed to a humanitarian outreach as one of Exercise Justified Accord’s best examples of partnership, collaboration and the exchange of expertise. Along with local civilian medical professionals, they delivered critical health care to Samburu County communities during a Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) on February 26 and 27. Kenyan Col. Mohammed Omar, a MEDCAP organizer, said the program reinforced military cooperation and operational readiness. A U.S. officer concurred, saying the outreach demonstrated how joint and multinational teams can rapidly deliver care during humanitarian crises while improving readiness…

Since seven East African nations agreed to launch The Jahazi Project in September 2025, authorities have strengthened protections against illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. Named after the Swahili word for a dhow, a traditional wooden sailing ship, the project aims to protect the ocean and unlock the potential of the region’s blue economy, which is estimated to reach $405 billion by 2030. The World Bank defines blue economy as “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.” “At its core, the initiative is about restoring balance between economic opportunity and…

An attack on a military outpost in Kofouno, Benin, in early March was the latest demonstration that terrorists with Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM) want to expand their reach into coastal West Africa from their base in the Sahel. The attack in Benin’s northeastern Alibori department killed 15 Soldiers and wounded five others. It followed a larger JNIM assault on military outposts in Wara and Bessassi in 2025 that killed dozens. Like other sites of JNIM attacks in Benin, Kofouno sits near the W-Arly-Pendjari park complex shared by Benin, Niger and Togo, which has become a haven for JNIM and…

The Islamic State group is threatening Libya’s fragile peace and gaining ground in the country by aligning with human smuggling networks, according to experts. These relationships could facilitate the movement of terrorists into Libya through smuggling routes used by irregular migrants in Chad, Mali, Niger and Sudan into southern Libya, Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper reported. While the Islamic State (IS) group is present throughout Libya, it is more of a danger in the south, with links to the Sahel, according to The Jamestown Foundation. Its presence is most consistent in the southern Fezzan region, where its logistical networks are used to transport…

The emails are designed to appear authentic. They might offer a prize or warn the recipient about a potential lawsuit. But the odds are high that they are fakes designed to steal crucial personal data or to infect a computer network with malicious software. In 2025, 45% of all emails sent around the globe contained some sort of scam, according to internet security company Kaspersky. The majority of emails targeted internet users in Asia, Europe, and North America. African users accounted for 6% of victims. However, African internet users are becoming a growing target for such attacks as internet access…

As they left the airport in Durban under the glare of camera crews and reporters, some of the men hid their faces. One was pushed in a wheelchair. The 11 South African men, victims of an elaborate recruiting scheme that brought them to the Russian Army, returned home on February 25 having survived the brutal fighting in Ukraine. They were part of a group of 17 men who said they were tricked into traveling to Russia for supposed training to be security guards and lucrative jobs when they returned. The next day, after meeting with the men and their families,…

The signs of a growing naval partnership between Tanzania and the United States were all over Tanga, the East African country’s second-largest seaport and a core location for maritime security operations in the region. While Cutlass Express 2026, a multilateral maritime security training exercise sponsored by U.S. Africa Command, was taking place off the coast of northern Tanzania and across the western Indian Ocean in February, the two countries further cemented their bond when Chargé d’Affaires Andrew Lentz of the U.S. Embassy handed over a new naval vessel maintenance facility in Tanga. Commander of the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF)…