Benin

ADF STAFF Shipowners operating in the Gulf of Guinea received a piracy alert in late June after a Swiss bulk carrier vessel was boarded and some of its crew injured during a pirate attack off Conakry, Guinea. Four criminals with…

ADF STAFF On the border of Benin and Burkina Faso, the disputed Kourou-Koualou area hosts a wide-ranging market of illicit activities that fuel insecurity and help extremism spread south from the Sahel. Like its neighbors along the Gulf…

Maj. Gen. Ibrahim of the Nigerian Army has a military career that spans more than 35 years. He holds a master’s degree in strategic studies from the University of Ibadan and has participated in international peace support operations in…

ADF STAFF About 100 armed men on motorcycles killed 18 civilians in Kaobagou, Benin, near the tri-border area with Togo and Burkina Faso in early May. Survivors said that 15 victims had their throats slit, a homemade bomb was…

ADF STAFF Although military and intelligence operations have weakened al-Qaida in recent years, the extremist group is trying to make a comeback, and its focus is on Africa. A recent report by Modern Diplomacy noted that the “primary…

ADF STAFF With the handover of command of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), leaders hope to continue the momentum against the extremist group Boko Haram. But observers warn that other groups in the region might prove harder to…

ADF STAFF Senior leaders from land forces across Africa gathered in Côte d’Ivoire in May for the 2023 African Land Forces Summit (ALFS). It was an opportunity to discuss the shared threats they face and the need for cooperation as…

ADF STAFF Benin’s W National Park sits on the country’s northern border, which has become the frontline in the battle to contain Sahel-based violent extremist organizations. With the W Park as a convenient entry point, that frontline is…

ADF STAFF Decades of simmering ethnic tensions in the northern Ghanaian town of Bawku recently boiled over into armed violence. Security forces have been deployed, and the conflict has captured the attention of the country and raised…

ADF STAFF People walk freely between Ghana and Burkina Faso where the towns of Paga and Dakola are joined. Aside from the rickety metal barriers and gate that cut across the main road, there is little indication of where one country ends…