ADF

ADF STAFF It’s supposed to be simple. A doctor prescribes medicine — an antibiotic for an infection or perhaps an antimalarial — and a trusted pharmacist dispenses the drug to the patient. The patient trusts the product and takes it as directed. But the prevalence of fake and substandard medicines in Africa, and a corresponding lack of regulatory and procedural safeguards, means that too often remedies fail to heal, or even harm, those who take them. In some cases, these phony drugs are dispensed on streets or in unlicensed pharmacies without medical input. The economic toll of fake drugs also…

ADF STAFF Northern Somalia, with its mountains, coastal towns and sparsely populated hinterlands, has felt the presence in recent months of a revitalized Islamic State affiliate (IS-Somalia) — its rise in prominence an increasing menace to the fragile country. In its yearslong fight against al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab, IS-Somalia has managed to drive its more powerful rivals out of their previously held Buuraha Cali Miskat mountain range stronghold in the autonomous region of Puntland. “Despite the presence of al-Shabaab, IS has also increased its influence in the port city of Bosaso and the surrounding remote villages in Qandala district,” the Armed…

ADF STAFF A report analyzing the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali concludes that it was handicapped from the start by its narrow capabilities and the Malian government’s expectations. Researchers produced the report after a June 13 workshop that analyzed the mission and the lessons learned from its 10-year deployment. The International Peace Institute, the Stimson Center and the Security Council Report organized the workshop. The Malian government, the report concluded, “appeared to prioritize sovereignty and restoration of state authority above all else, including above sustaining the political transition or the peace process in the north.” The United Nations Multidimensional…

ADF STAFF South Africa’s Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) organization is developing an artificial intelligence tool designed to monitor social media posts and flag those suspected of inciting violence. Insights into Incitement, shortened to I3, will analyze text data such as social media posts, articles, political party commentaries and public complaints, then rank how likely an individual comment is to incite violence. A publicly available online dashboard compiles the data in a searchable format. The project was a response to violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces in 2021 after former President Jacob Zuma was jailed for contempt of court. The riots…

ADF STAFF Once among the world’s hotspots for piracy and trafficking, the Gulf of Guinea still presents a security challenge for the Economic Community of West African States. The West African regional bloc, also known as ECOWAS, includes 12 coastal countries among its 15 members. It recently conducted Operation Safe Domain III. The third iteration of the ECOWAS maritime security training event launched from Cotonou, Benin, on August 5 and concluded on August 9. Led by ECOWAS’s Multinational Maritime Coordination Center (MMCC) for Zone E, which consists of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, the exercise included maritime and aerial surveillance, intervention…

ADF STAFF The discovery of Libyan fighters training at a camp in South Africa has led to a host of questions and concerns. Analysts are asking if other training facilities exist in the country and if Libya’s Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar is preparing an attack that will reignite and internationalize his country’s conflict. On July 26, South African authorities detained 95 Libyan nationals who, they said, had entered the country on “study visas” but were found undergoing military training in White River, about 360 kilometers east of Johannesburg. The operator of the camp, Milites Dei Security Services, has been suspended…

ADF STAFF On Christmas Day in 2023, fighters commonly called “bandits” killed more than 115 people in northern Nigeria. The bandits destroyed more than 220 homes in about 10 communities. They killed more than 400 people in Plateau State in attacks in the last quarter of 2023, the Jamestown Foundation reported. In the past decade, northwest Nigeria has become increasingly infested with bandits working as criminal gangs. Banditry involves crimes such as murder and kidnapping, but it also includes nonstate armed groups such as Boko Haram factions, separatist groups and militants. The International Peace Institute notes that although some of…

ADF STAFF Russia has added more armed men to its Sahel operations, this time in the form of the Bear Brigade, which has operated in Burkina Faso since May. Experts say the Bear Brigade is among an estimated 300 Russian security operatives in Burkina Faso, which includes members of Russian military intelligence, the GRU. About 30 Bear Brigade members have taken up residence in Ouagadougou and two nearby military bases. They are training forces loyal to junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traoré and enhancing his personal security apparatus after an alleged countercoup attempt in September 2023. Experts say Traoré is an…

ADF STAFF Cyberattackers are using a new, low-cost weapon to disrupt internet access to media sites across Africa — one that is difficult to defend against and rapidly proliferating. The method of attack, called a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), is a time-tested way to shut down sites by overwhelming their systems with incoming internet traffic. A DDoS often targets high-profile or important sites such as government services or media operations to sow distrust. Attacks on media sites, in particular, can prevent them from distributing news the attackers want to hide. In some cases, governments might launch DDoS attacks to censor or…

ADF STAFF Three journalists critical of Burkina Faso’s military junta were kidnapped over a 10-day period in June. At least one of them, Serge Oulon, editor of the newspaper L’Événement, was abducted by a group of armed men claiming to be from the National Intelligence Agency, according to Reporters Without Borders. Kalifara Séré, who appeared on the program “7Infos” on the private television channel BF1, went missing the day after he attended a hearing with judicial police. Séré had recently questioned the authenticity of footage of junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traoré donating blood. The nation’s media regulator temporarily suspended “7Infos.” Several Western news…