West Africa

ADF STAFF Burkina Faso has struggled with extremist violence pouring out of neighboring Mali since 2015. But November 14, 2021, became a tipping point for the Sahelian nation.  That morning, extremist gunmen stormed a military police…

ADF STAFF A terror group’s campaign is more likely to escalate into a civil war when the state it operates in uses repressive tactics and when the group diversifies its attack strategies. Although about 70% of terror groups end their…

ADF STAFF The Guinean Navy found more than 1.5 tons of cocaine on board a fishing vessel off the coast during an inspection in early April. The seizure illustrates a trend in West Africa, where at least 57 tons of cocaine were seized…

ADF STAFF The United States government in late March offered $100 million to help Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo battle the spread of terrorism over the next 10 years. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made the…

ADF STAFF They toil for long, grueling hours without water or food. They sleep on the decks of the fishing vessels where they work, exposed to the elements. There is no medicine if they get sick, and they are routinely forced…

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 recent outbreak of coups in West Africa has cast a spotlight on some shortcomings in transitioning back to democracy. Since 2020, military juntas have swept to power in Mali (2021, 2022), Burkina Faso (twice in 2022) and…

ADF STAFF Moustapha was running out of hope. The Nigerien man had a family to feed but little means to do so. Like scores of people around the continent, he was persuaded to join and fight for a violent extremist organization.…

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 About 20% of illegally caught fish worldwide comes from waters near The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone, according to a new report by news organization Investigative Journalism Reportika…