ADF

ADF STAFF Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) busted a major drug cartel with operations in Imo and Rivers States in mid-July. Authorities arrested the cartel’s leader and one of his associates for allegedly distributing large amounts of methamphetamine throughout south and southeastern Nigeria. Confiscated from the cartel leader’s Imo State mansion were about 420 grams of methamphetamine and chemicals used to make the drug. One week earlier, Nigerian authorities arrested a couple accused of packaging, distributing and trafficking $1.3 million worth of cocaine in and outside Nigeria. These operations are part of Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to curb escalating…

ADF STAFF A loss of territory and manpower have resulted in Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) unleashing suicide attacks in Nigeria, analysts say. On one day in late June, three suicide bombers, each female, killed 32 people and wounded at least 42 at three locations in Gwoza, Borno State, near the Cameroonian border: at a wedding celebration, near a hospital and at a funeral service for victims of an earlier bombing. A fourth incident involved no casualties other than the female bomber. They were the first suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria in about four years.…

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…