Border Security

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…

ADF STAFF Porous borders and weak enforcement have turned certain regions into highways for international drug trafficking, which in turn fuels insurgencies and conflicts. West Africa in particular has become the transit hub for drugs…

ADF STAFF The spread of extremist violence in West Africa gave this year’s Exercise Flintlock an air of urgency, as counterterrorism training took center stage. Ghana Armed Forces Col. Richard Mensah, commander of the Joint Military…

ADF STAFF The Ilemi Triangle is a sparsely populated, poorly demarcated tract of land on the border between Kenya and South Sudan. For years analysts have warned that this small, arid region has the potential to drive cross-border…

ADF STAFF Benin’s military is working to reassure communities in its northern border areas that it can protect the region from further terrorist incursions from Burkina Faso, Mali and elsewhere in the Sahel. “The Beninese army is…

ADF STAFF Increasing attacks in northern Togo have targeted civilians and military personnel — yet another sign of Sahel terror groups progressively expanding and threatening coastal West Africa. Togo declared a “state of security…

ADF STAFF Checkpoints line the road between Tanguieta and Porga in northern Benin as Soldiers in armored vehicles patrol the region for terrorist activity. This normally quiet corner of West Africa has seen four terrorist attacks since…

ADF STAFF Some call cattle rustling one of the oldest crimes in human history. In Africa, cattle rustling dates back centuries and once was considered a cultural practice, sanctioned and organized by tribal elders and traditional leaders.…

ADF STAFF Inside his shop in northern Côte d’Ivoire, 25-year-old tailor Bassina Konate demonstrates his expertise with the tools of his trade — a sewing machine, scissors, cloth and measuring tape. His business in the town of Kong is open…

ADF STAFF Islamic State attacks in the Sahel have shifted in recent months toward towns along the Mali-Niger border. Civilians continue to pay with their lives. “Armed men arrived on motorbikes and shot at everything which moved,” a…