SOCAFRICA

AFRICOM: Another combatant command to leave Germany

Mark Esper, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, announced earlier last week that European Command EUCOM will relocate from Stuttgart, Germany to the NATO headquarters in Mons, Belgium. He also ordered Africa Command (AFRICOM) to draw up plans to relocate its headquarters. But unlike EUCOM, there is not a place for AFRICOM to go. As part […]

US drone strike kills 7 Islamic State fighters in Somalia

On Thursday, the United State’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, conducted an airstrike against ISIS terrorists from the Islamic State in Somalia (ISS). The airstrike took place as Somalian Puntland Security Forces (PSF) were conducting an operation in a remote location in the Iskushuban area of the Bari region near […]

AFRICOM: The battle for Central Africa

This article was written by Jesutimilehin Akamo and originally published on Grey Dynamics.  Key Judgements It is almost certain that most of central Africa is unstable. While Sao Tome and Principe has remained peaceful in the last decade, other countries in the region are either at the brink of conflict or have active conflicts. Oil, […]

Counterterrorism & counterinsurgency: US strategy in West Africa

This article was written by Ana Maria Baloi and originally published on Grey Dynamics.  This report examines the strategic concepts of AFRICOM as applied in West Africa, based on the U.S. interests in the region, military doctrine, and past experiences in other parts of the world. For collection and processing, the author used Open Source […]

US accuses Russian mercenaries of planting landmines & IEDs in Libya

The United States has accused the Russians of planting landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Libya.  The U.S. stated that Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group were planting them in support of the Libyan National Army’s (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), stated that they had verified photographic evidence that Wagner […]

America in Africa: Camp Lemonnier & foreign adversaries

This article was written by Eren Ersozoglu and originally published on Grey Dynamics.  The purpose of this Grey Dynamics Africa Intelligence Report is to analyze the benefit of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti for America’s strategic and geopolitical purposes. Foreign presence will be assessed, and analysis will provide the implications of competing and supporting strategies on […]

Suspecting human rights abuses in the Sahel, US threatens support to partners

The United States released a statement on Thursday addressing the increase of alleged human rights abuses by state security forces in West Africa and the Sahel. According to the statement, the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about these allegations and said that they must be addressed or else assistance from Washington could be at risk. Part […]

SADAT: The Turkish mercenaries who support Islamist groups

Editor’s note: This article was written by Eren Ersozoglu and originally published on Grey Dynamics.  This Grey Dynamics African Intelligence Article analyses the SADAT paramilitary group, and the political de facto implications placed on Turkish-African relations and security amid an increase in cooperation between Turkey and African states. Turkey’s private military contractor, SADAT, has been conducting military […]

Russia in West Africa: Trying to replace the West?

Editor’s note: This article was written by Ana Maria Baloi and originally published on Grey Dynamics. This report examines the likelihood of a Russian power projection in West Africa, based on the country’s ambitions, military doctrine and previous and current actions in other parts of the continent Key Judgements KJ-1: Russia’s interest in Africa is […]

G5 Sahel summit needs to address terrorism and instability in West Africa

Despite some modest military gains by the governments in the past few months, the political instability in many West African nations, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali, could risk all of that and plunge the entire region into chaos. The members of the G5 Sahel are holding a summit in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott […]

Boko Haram strikes again with multiple attacks in Nigeria, over 100 dead

Three separate attacks, including an assault on the military base of Monguno, killed dozens of people in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state. Boko Haram, which has allied itself with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), claimed responsibility for the attacks. The other two targets were a United Nations office and a refugee camp which hosts […]

Breaking: French Spec Ops kill the head of al-Qaeda in Mali & capture ISIS Leader

In the past few days, the French military successfully conducted two key operations in the Sahel, killing one terrorist group leader and capturing another. French forces killed a senior al-Qaeda leader in an operation in northern Mali near the Algerian border on Wednesday. According to France’s Armed Forces Minister, Florence Parly, they had been hunting […]