ADF

ADF STAFF Women living under the yoke of al-Shabaab terrorists suffer from abuse, coercion and severe social isolation. But a new report shows that they also play key roles in many of the group’s deadly attacks. Across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda, women are being recruited or forced to join the terror group, according to “Women Inside Al-Shabaab,” published by Wargelin Analytica, a think tank that studies the Horn of Africa. The report shows the dual identity women have as victims and enablers of the group’s operations. It explains how women enter the group through marriage or family ties…

ADF STAFF Methamphetamine cooks supplied by Mexican drug cartels have been discovered working at several drug laboratories in Africa over the past two years. Several arrests, including Nigeria’s largest-ever meth bust in May, have occurred as Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels expand their operations under a franchise-style business model. The cartels are accused of funding continental terrorists, armed groups and criminal groups that help them produce and move the drugs. “The relationship between cartels and drug use and terrorism is very, very simple,” Nigerian organized crime expert Faisal Sanusi Ibrahim told news service Deutsche Welle (DW). “The terrorists…

ADF STAFF Piloting a drone, award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Edem Srem flies high above polluted waterways in his native Ghana to show the scale of environmental devastation from illegal gold mining, known locally as galamsey. The land is pock-marked with large and small mining pits filled with water that looks like coffee with heavy cream. Srem is sounding an alarm that galamsey is not just an environmental disaster. It also has become a dangerous criminal enterprise that threatens national and regional security. “[Galamsey] supports a sprawling illicit economy involving hundreds of thousands of miners, transnational financiers, foreign operators, gold…

ADF STAFF A string of devastating attacks by Sahelian terror groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have shown Russian mercenaries’ inability to provide security. Now, Russia appears to be pivoting to an alternate strategy. Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said the Kremlin is using its well-established blueprint of deploying propaganda and false information as a precursor to expanding its presence. The target: coastal West Africa. “Russia’s Sahel strategy is collapsing, but that hasn’t slowed its ambitions in Africa,” he wrote in a July social media post. “Even as its influence in the…

ADF STAFF As it seeks to expand its territory, the Sahelian terror organization Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin has launched violent attacks in the border areas of multiple Gulf of Guinea countries with one exception: Ghana. Ghana’s northern region next to Burkina Faso is a place of porous borders, light governmental presence and high economic insecurity. Residents of both countries routinely cross the border outside of formal crossing points. Experts call the light governmental presence a “sovereignty gap.” It has created a haven where JNIM fighters rest, recuperate from injuries at local hospitals, and restock food and weapons. They then cross…

ADF STAFF In June, soldiers from Mali and Niger graduated from special forces training in Isparta, Türkiye, becoming the latest example of the Turkish military’s growing influence in Africa. Over the past decade, Türkiye has expanded its presence on the continent through training and arms sales. The so-called “Somalia model” takes its name from Türkiye’s arrival in Mogadishu in 2017 to help the Somali military fight al-Shabaab. Somalia’s Camp TurkSom, which includes a training academy, is Türkiye’s largest overseas military base. Türkiye’s influence grew rapidly after its 2019-20 intervention in Libya on the side of the internationally recognized government in…

ADF STAFF Industrial development is booming across much of Africa, and with it comes the use of hazardous chemicals and other sensitive material. Terrorist groups covet many of these “dual-use” items for use in attacks. Chlorine gas, for example, is commonly used in water treatment but can be weaponized to deadly effect. Medical research uses radiological and biological materials that can be dangerous in the wrong hands. “The same materials that strengthen healthcare, scientific research, mining and industry can also become security risks if poorly managed,” Mubarak Aliyu, a Nigeria-based political and security risk analyst, told Al Jazeera. To combat…

Cameroon is working to deregister and sanction foreign vessels that illegally register with the country to avoid detection. These shadow fleet tankers often carry Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan oil and have long abused the country’s flag to avoid sanctions. The reforms include suspending new registrations of vessels operating outside Cameroonian waters and auditing the country’s shipping register. Cameroon is making the changes following pressure from the European Union and the International Maritime Organization. Authorities also are pushing to strengthen the country’s digital vessel registration process to reduce fraud and improve traceability. “Although commendable, these reforms alone cannot end the exploitation…

Over the past three years, insurgent groups across Africa increasingly have deployed weaponized drones against security forces, leaving militaries racing to develop methods to counter them. In 2025 alone, analysts recorded nearly 60 incidents of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) attacks, nearly triple the number from the year before. More than half of those attacks were conducted by Mali-based Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) deployed armed drones that same year against security forces in Cameroon and Nigeria. In Somalia, both al-Shabaab and Islamic State Somalia are working with Houthi…

Zimbabwean researcher Charles Moyo believes that Southern Africa is a region at a crossroads. While it enjoys peace and stability relative to the rest of the continent, it faces the threat of expanding terrorism from Islamic State affiliates in northern Mozambique and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Moyo, senior researcher and regional policy and research manager  at the Southern Africa Centre for Mediation and Extremism Prevention, said illegal gold mining is emerging as a security threat that violent extremist groups can exploit. “Zambia’s proximity to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique’s insurgency and cross-border mobility increases the…