weapons trafficking

ADF STAFF Sudan’s war has begun to spill into the Central African Republic as both sides of the fight conduct operations along Sudan’s southwest border. According to the United Nations, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched air raids…

ADF STAFF Russia has deployed 1,800 fighters to eastern Libya in what it hopes will become a base of power to exert influence in other parts of the continent. Some of those deployed were Russian soldiers, and others were mercenaries with…

ADF STAFF As kidnapping for ransom has become a source of income for terrorists and criminals in parts of the Lake Chad Basin, authorities say that several hundred victims remain in captivity. A new report from the Institute for Security…

ADF STAFF Nigerian authorities are working to contain a thriving illicit weapons market in Lagos as local manufacturers of illegal guns continuously hone their trade. Local illegal gun factories are known for producing imitation…

ADF STAFF African security officials are joining the global effort to end the flow of illicit small arms and light weapons that drive so much of the violence plaguing nations across the continent. During gatherings in Nairobi, Kenya, and…

ADF STAFF Nine crew members aboard a chemical tanker headed from Côte d’Ivoire to Cameroon were abducted by pirates in January as the ship sailed near Equatorial Guinea. Piracy is one of many sea crimes prevalent in the Gulf of…

ADF STAFF More than a decade of violent conflicts in the Sahel has given rise to the thriving business of firearms trafficking, in which demand far outpaces supply. With a 2022 population of 4.2 million, Mali’s capital city of Bamako is…

ADF STAFF Plans to hold a national election in Libya have sputtered for years. Abdulaye Bathily, the United Nations envoy to Libya, in late November urged the country’s rival factions to select representatives for a meeting aimed at…

CYRUS OMBATI, THE STAR Kenya has nearly fulfilled one of its commitments to regional and international treaties on arms control as it nears completion of marking official firearms and ammunition.  The National Police Service has…

ADF STAFF The 2023 ENACT Organized Crime Index for Africa explicitly links armed conflict and a lack of democratic institutions to an increase in organized crime. The report, authored by the Global Initiative Against Transnational…