ADF

ADF STAFF The recent deaths of South African Soldiers, deployed in December to confront M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have South African opposition groups questioning the mission and the resources available to the troops. “The reality is that the SANDF (South Africa National Defence Force) does not have the capacity to effectively pursue an anti-insurgency campaign against the M23 rebels and neither does it have the prime mission equipment to support the ground forces,” Kobus Marais, a member of the Democratic Alliance said in a statement about the deployment, released on the alliance’s website.…

ADF STAFF Two gym instructors in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region, were detained on suspicion of working with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which has battled government forces for decades. The instructors denied involvement with the OLA, which is responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths in addition to kidnappings. OLA grievances are rooted in the alleged marginalization and neglect of Oromos. The men were suspended from a ceiling, with their arms bound at the wrist and their legs bound at the ankle. “I was put upside down and then [shocked] on the sole of my foot,” one told Reuters.…

ADF STAFF Thousands of civilians in northern Mali have fled their homes in recent months, running from what they call systematic attacks by Russian mercenaries and Malian soldiers. Malian researcher Mohamed Issouf Ag Mohamed and professor of African history Mariana Bracks Fonseca recently reported on the actions of the notorious Wagner Group mercenaries who are leading units of the Malian military (FAMa) in the country’s central and northern regions. “Military actions amounting to ethnic cleansing of minorities are underway, combined with discriminatory propaganda calling for violence against and persecution of all civilians who wear turbans or other clothing typical of…

ADF STAFF Rebels killed at least 21 people, including children and a Soldier, in the northern Central African Republic (CAR) in late December. Nzakoundou village residents blamed the attack on a rebel group that claims to protect Muslim Puehl herdersbut has been accused of mass killings and looting. “The rebels first attacked the army checkpoints, killing one person and wounding several others, before attacking the civilian population, killing about 20 people,” Ernest Bonang, a federal lawmaker who represents Nzakoundou, told The Associated Press. News of the attack did not surprise many observers, as the CAR has experienced intercommunal fighting since…

ADF STAFF Eduarte Cristiano Tumbati and his family fled their home in terror, taking only a few kitchen utensils when they left the village of Ntoli in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. Tumbati, 38, his wife and their three children journeyed five hours by foot to the safety of a displaced persons camp after extremist militants attacked Ntoli and murdered Tumbati’s brother. “My brother and his wife were in their cassava field when the insurgents appeared two years ago,” he told the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). “They cooked food and after they had eaten, they told his wife to watch…

ADF STAFF Sixteen months after the Ethiopian government defeated rebels in its northern Tigray region with the help of Eritrea, remaining Eritrean Defence Forces troops have been abducting farmers and stealing livestock, according to reports. Eritrean forces came to the aid of the Ethiopian government in its fight against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which sought to overthrow the Ethiopian and the Eritrean governments. Tigray residents have accused Eritrean forces of abuse and committing war crimes. In Adwa, Eritrean soldiers killed more than 300 people, including women, children and the elderly. They damaged or destroyed nearly 70 buildings days…

ADF STAFF The Tanzania Forest Agency (TFA) is adding drones to the tools it uses to protect dwindling woodland areas, which are under pressure from a variety of sources. “The utilization of drone technology is important because it will help us cover a large area and leave the remainder to patrols using vehicles and motorcycles,” said Dos Santos Salayo, TFA’s commissioner for conservation. The agency announced the deployment of four new vehicles and nearly 40 motorcycles to patrol Tanzania’s forests. “We are committed to enhancing the sector by equipping you with the necessary tools and expertise to drive positive outcomes…

ADF STAFF The Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya was supposed to be profitable by transporting cargo from Mombasa to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, then bringing goods from those countries back to Kenya. A Chinese feasibility study that underpinned the project claimed the railway, also known as the SGR, would move 22 million tons of freight a year, or 20 trains a day. According to some estimates, the railway handles only about a quarter of that much freight. Critics of the project abound due to its shortcomings, the opaque nature of its deal, and the…

ADF STAFF For seven years, the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) has relied on a network of Islamic State group affiliates to fund much of its terror campaign across the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. However, recent events suggest that network might not be as reliable as it once was. Two events appear to be putting ISCAP’s finances of shaky ground: the recent collapse of IS operations in Mozambique and al-Shabaab’s repeated losses in Somalia. Like similar groups, ISCAP also extorts money from local residents in the DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces, where it is…

ADF STAFF Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa is intensifying, and experts say the central Sahel region has replaced the Middle East as its global epicenter. Worldwide deaths from terrorism increased by 22% in 2023 to 8,352 — the most since 2017 — according to the 2024 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), published on February 29. “Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for just under 59% of all fatalities,” the GTI report stated. “The Sahel accounts for almost half of all deaths from terrorism globally.” Although terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa got substantially worse in 2023, some experts noted that violent extremist organizations are becoming more…