ADF

ADF STAFF In the town of Kamituga, in the heavily forested eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, artisanal gold mining is big business. Thousands of people in South Kivu province work in vast open-pit mines in the faint hope of making a few dollars a day. Chinese companies dominate the industry nationwide. In stark contrast to small-scale miners, Chinese companies take a more industrial approach to gold-mining operations, using heavy machinery such as mechanized diggers and boat dredges. “[We] don’t have the same means,” Felicien Mikalano, the president of a local association for artisanal diggers, told Agence…

ADF STAFF Heavily armed M23 rebels sat in trucks and on motorcycles at a checkpoint along the Sake-Kilolirwe-Kitshanga road in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They stopped every traveler, took stock of their inventory, demanded a tax payment and issued a hand-written receipt. In a recent report, a cohort of researchers estimated that M23’s extortion of civilians along this single trade route could amount to $69,500 per month. “Control of roads is a significant strategic issue for obvious military reasons, but also for financing armed groups,” the authors wrote. “The M23 made significant progress in…

ADF STAFF Members of the Armed Forces of Mauritania huddled close as their vessel sliced through the Mediterranean Sea toward a ship on the horizon. Once beside the ship, the military forces boarded it, one by one. With guns drawn, they searched the vessel before arresting its captain and confiscating a cache of weapons. The Mauritanian forces were participating in a visit, board, search and seizure drill during the 19th iteration of Phoenix Express, a 12-day, multinational maritime security exercise hosted this year by Tunisia, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command and led by U.S. Naval Forces Africa. The goals of…

ADF STAFF Sexual violence against women and girls of all ages is rampant in war-torn Sudan, including rape, gang rape, forced marriages and sexual slavery. A new United Nations report found that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia is using sexual violence as a deliberate tactic “intending to terrorize civilians.” “The majority of rape and sexual and gender-based violence was committed by the RSF,” the report, published on October 29 by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, stated. “[It’s] part of a pattern aimed at terrorizing and punishing civilians for perceived links with opponents and suppressing any opposition…

ADF STAFF The new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is expected to differ significantly from previous AU missions in the country. While the previous missions struggled with multiple, sometimes conflicting, roles and expectations, AUSSOM will have a more defined role, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), for instance, was given less than three years to help the Somali National Army (SNA) defeat the terrorist group al-Shabaab, while AUSSOM has five years to complete its mission. AUSSOM is expected to gradually hand over security responsibilities to Somali…

ADF STAFF The United States has provided a second $5.5 million state-of-the-art Level 2 field hospital to the Ugandan military to help with rapid deployment to regional peacekeeping missions, humanitarian emergencies and medical crises. The 22-bed facility, which meets United Nations specifications, has specialized suites for dental and surgical care and for treating infectious diseases. Ugandan officials said the portable hospital includes equipment for diagnostic imaging, X-rays and eye care. Soldiers from the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces trained extensively at the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capabilities Center in Jinja in October before receiving the hospital. They learned how to set up,…

ADF STAFF The Nigerian Air Force, working as part of Operation Hadarin Daji, killed Zamfara-based bandit leader Kachalla Halilu Sububu on September 12, avenging his deadly 2021 attack on a Katsina military base. “In a decisive joint operation led by three personnel of the Nigerian Air Force [NAF] Special Forces, a notorious bandit, Halilu Sububu, and over 38 terrorists were neutralized during an engagement near Mayanchi on 12 September 2024,” Air Force Group Capt. Kabiru Ali said in a statement, as reported by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper. “The operation was part of an ongoing effort by NAF and ground forces to…

ADF STAFF A new report confirms that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has received repeated deliveries of weapons from Iran since December 2023, when the two countries restored diplomatic ties after an eight-year hiatus. Researchers at the Conflict Observatory used open-source documentation to track at least seven military cargo flights from airports in Iran to Port Sudan, the wartime headquarters of the SAF and Sudan’s junta-led government overseen by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Two other flights are considered “very likely” deliveries because the planes turned off their transponders just before landing in Sudan. The Conflict Observatory tracked flights of the…

ADF STAFF Health, military and government officials from more than 30 African nations have concluded a conference of the African Partnership Outbreak Response Alliance that included a simulated response to a mass casualty event, a first for the annual conference. The alliance, known as APORA, met November 4 to 8 in Cotonou, Benin. The meeting emphasized continued international cooperation, military-to-military engagement, and the need for a permanent APORA headquarters in Africa. The mass casualty simulation included 345 military personnel, first responders and civil protection forces, highlighting the collaboration and structured approach necessary for effective emergency response. “This edition will test,…

ADF STAFF When the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) attacked Bamako in September, it marked the first attack inside the Malian capital since 2016. The attack on a military training school and international airport where Russian mercenaries are based killed at least 77 people, mostly young gendarmerie recruits. The terrorists also stuffed burning rags into the engines of presidential jets belonging to the ruling military junta. Afterward, JNIM released a statement saying that the attack was a reprisal for “massacres and slaughters committed by this ruling clique and its Russian allies against our Muslim people.” Wassim Nasr, a Sahel…