Terrorism

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…

ADF STAFF Northern Ghana has emerged as a logistical base from which violent extremist organizations from Burkina Faso launch attacks into other areas as they try to expand farther into West Africa. Terrorists linked to al-Qaida and the…

ADF STAFF Terrorists that plague northern Nigeria are arming themselves with weapons that originated in Libya, according to Nigerian defense officials. Weapons traffickers in Nigeria are benefitting from instability across the Sahel,…

ADF STAFF A mid-August attack on a Fulani community in central Mali left 23 people dead and 300 missing. After raiding the village of Saran, the unidentified attackers went to the Fulani village of Bidi, but people there had already…

ADF STAFF In Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu, where al-Shabaab militants continue to plot attacks, people are fighting back with security cameras. In recent months, bustling commercial centers have suffered a wave of bombings by the…

ADF STAFF A convoy composed of Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) troops and Russian mercenaries rode in military vehicles, armored vehicles, trucks and pickups as they headed toward the northern town of Tinzawaten in late September. Their…

ADF STAFF Months of battlefield losses and hundreds of defections appeared to weaken Boko Haram, but it has not stopped the extremists from continuing to terrorize the Lake Chad Basin. Experts say that because the group has shown an…

ADF STAFF The Sahel region has emerged as a new drug trafficking epicenter in recent years. According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, authorities seized 41 kilograms of cocaine in 2021. The number spiked…

ADF STAFF The chaos that has engulfed Sudan since war broke out in April 2023 could make the country a nexus for terrorism that connects violent extremists in the Sahel with terror groups in Somalia and even Yemen, observers say. “I…

ADF STAFF After forming alliances with military-led juntas in the Sahel, Russia might be moving its influence campaign south by supporting social unrest in Nigeria. During a 10-day August protest demanding better governance, some…