ADF

The Nigerian Armed Forces expects to host chiefs of defense from all 54 African nations at a summit in Abuja in August with the task of developing homegrown solutions to the continent’s security issues. The invitation list includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which broke away from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the beginning of this year to form their own regional group. The military juntas ruling those countries have pledged to work together to combat the terrorist groups that stymied their democratically elected predecessors. The head of the summit planning group, Air Vice Marshal Precious…

Islamic State-Mozambique is one of many terrorist groups in Africa using child abduction as a weapon of war. The United Nations and several civil society groups in Mozambique say the terrorists, known as ISM, have targeted children in a wave of kidnappings in recent months, which has coincided with an increase in attacks in Cabo Delgado province in the northern part of the country. “The surge in abductions of children in Cabo Delgado adds to the horrors of Mozambique’s conflict,” Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement on June 24. In May and…

Across Africa, so-called “ungoverned spaces” serve as breeding grounds for terrorist organizations as well as transit points for weapons, drugs and other contraband. Increasing government presence in such spaces is a vital part of counterterrorism planning, according to experts. “It’s different in every region or country, but there are some similarities,” Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga, commander of land forces of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Force, said during the recent African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. “Terrorists take advantage of ungoverned spaces.” Ungoverned spaces can be anywhere, but they are most often found in border regions far from the…

Tanzania has a long history of protecting civilians, promoting peace and supporting peacekeeping operations, particularly in Africa. It was no surprise that it recently hosted the United Nations Staff Officer Training of Trainers course. “This is a significant step for us,” Brig. Gen. George Mwita Itang’are, commandant of the Tanzania Peacekeeping Training Centre, said during the opening ceremony. “We are proud to host this under the U.N. banner.” The 10-day program took place at the training center in Dar es Salaam from July 7-17. Officers from Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia were among the participants from 22 countries. They were…

Before the terrorists came, Dagodji was a thriving village alongside the Niger River in central Mali. There was bustling agriculture, a school, even a water tower. On the other side of the river, Soumaguel can still see the remnants of Dagodji from the town of Niafunké, where he fled in late April when fighters from the terrorist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) ordered everyone to leave, accusing villagers of working with the Malian military. “We no longer have a home,” he told The Africa Report. “The rainy season is coming, and we haven’t been able to replaster our mud-brick…

After the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Russia has scrambled to transfer military equipment to other areas, including eastern Libya. Experts question Russia’s long-term strategic goals and fear the expanded presence of mercenaries and military personnel could further destabilize Libya, Sudan and other nations in the region. The Kremlin increasingly has used Al-Khadim air base, about 100 kilometers east of Benghazi, as a hub for conducting operations, supplying arms, and trafficking resources in and out of the restive Sahel region. “One of former Libyan leader Mu’ammar Qaddafi’s greatest foreign policy failures was undoubtedly his 1980s attempt…

South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) has deployed four drones and added 40 body cameras to halt illegal migration, smuggling and human trafficking at the borders it shares with six countries. Using the new technology, the BMA arrested 6,253 undocumented immigrants trying to enter or leave the country from April 15 to April 24. This marked a 61% increase from the 3,841 people intercepted during the same period in 2024. BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato said the authority recorded just more than 1,000,000 movements across the country’s 71 ports of entry during that time frame. Of those apprehended, 2,019 were Zimbabweans,…

Fake investment scams, ransomware, digital sextortion and business email compromise are surging across the continent. Experts say African countries must do more to protect their citizens. Rising digital dependency in the public and private sectors, along with “a severe lack of cybersecurity capacity,” have combined to make Africans extremely vulnerable, according to Anna Collard, senior vice president of content strategy for security software company KnowBe4 Africa. “It means that Africa is an attractive target area for criminals,” she told ADF. “The majority of cybersecurity incidents go unreported or unresolved, meaning that cyber threats in Africa are likely much worse than…

African nations’ counterterrorism strategies range from battlefield combat to cat-and-mouse hunts in cyberspace. But there is one aspect of counterterrorism that some experts say deserves more attention — the influence jailed terrorists can have on other prisoners. The concern, according to Gen. Paul Phiri, commander of the Malawi Defence Force, is that terrorists will spread their radicalization to other prisoners, who then will carry it back into the community when they are released. “We need to make better connections between the military and corrections authorities,” Phiri told ADF during an interview at the African Chiefs of Defense Conference earlier this…

The World Hongmen History and Culture Association is a modern organization that describes itself as an ethnic fraternal group dedicated to promoting Chinese culture abroad. Established in 2013, it takes its name from a centuries-old secret society in China, also called the Hongmen. In the past, as in the present, the group has been revealed to be a facade for organized crime. It is active around the world and has a growing presence in Africa. Wan Kuok Koi, one of Asia’s most powerful crime bosses, leads the modern iteration of the Hongmen. He created the association after serving nearly 14…