Countering Terrorism Financing in East Africa
Terrorist groups like al Shabaab and the Islamic State in Somalia (IS-S) pose a persistent and evolving threat to security in East Africa and internationally. … Al Shabaab’s growing engagements with the Houthi paramilitary group in Yemen are illustrative. Through increasingly sophisticated and transnational facilitation networks, these exchanges across the Gulf of Aden have raised the land-based threat posed by both groups, as well as their capacity to disrupt the vital maritime trade route through the Red Sea. … While its early revenue generation was opportunistic, al Shabaab has evolved into a hybrid entity that blurs the lines between terrorism and transnational organized crime. This expanding revenue generation capacity has been further enabled by the region’s porous borders, persistent state fragility, armed conflict, and corruption. The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) has made meaningful progress through reforms to its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and the adoption of strategies to disrupt terrorism financing. … Despite this progress, al Shabaab has continued to adapt and maintain its revenue flows, while gaps in technical compliance and operational effectiveness undermine efforts to curtail these funding sources. Al Shabaab’s increasingly transnational financial strategy, moreover, complicates national efforts to disrupt its finances, underscoring the growing importance of cross-border coordination to counter these illicit revenue flows. Interregional coordination, however, remains limited, while capacity gaps undermine effective investigation, interdiction, and asset forfeiture efforts. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Pakistan Vows Stronger Defence Cooperation with Somalia
Pakistan’s military chief pledged on Thursday to help Somalia strengthen its security forces as the two countries moved to expand cooperation in counterterrorism, military training and defence capacity building. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defence forces and army chief, made the commitment during talks with Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi at the military’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Munir, widely considered the most powerful man in Pakistan, reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to “supporting Somalia in strengthening its security apparatus and fostering enduring peace in the region”, the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations said. … The meeting capped several days of high-level talks during Fiqi’s visit to Pakistan, where the two governments signed a new defence and security agreement. … Somalia’s defence ministry said the agreement covers counterterrorism cooperation, military training and exchanges of professional expertise. … Ashraf pledged to strengthen defence ties, while Fiqi praised the Pakistan Navy’s contribution to maritime security. Somalia has Africa’s longest mainland coastline, stretching more than 3,300 kilometres along the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. However, decades of state collapse left the country with limited capacity to patrol its waters or confront piracy, illegal fishing, weapons trafficking and other maritime threats. Somalia Today
In Ethiopia, Clashes Trigger Fear of Return to Civil War
Residents of Alamata, a city that straddles Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions, say a growing military presence have them fearing renewed fighting. The city is one of the most contested areas since the Tigray War. Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces took control of it at the start of this year, after Ethiopian federal troops withdrew. … Alamata is the central hub of the Raya valley, which straddles the Tigray and Amhara regions and alongside. It includes the districts of Raya Azebo in the Tigray region and Raya Kobo in the Amhara region. … Alamata lies about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Kobo in the Amhara region and sits along a strategic highway linking Tigray with central Ethiopia. Ethiopian federal forces entered the city in November 2020, at the start of the Tigray War. Forces loyal to the TPLF and deployed TPLF army units have been in control since federal forces withdrew on January 15. However, the area’s status remains unresolved under the African Union-brokered Pretoria Peace Agreement signed in November 2022. Political divisions within the TPLF have also fueled concerns about the durability of the peace process. DW
How Smuggled Sudanese Gold Is Laundered through South Sudan to Dubai
After seizing the Jebel Amer gold mine in 2017, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemetti, directed profits to roughly 50 RSF-affiliated companies. In 2019, Hemetti offered approximately $1 billion to support economic stability in Sudan. … Estimates from UN expert panels and research groups focusing on conflict economies indicate the Darfur region produces between 10 and 20 tonnes of gold annually. Production is spread across Jebel Amer, Songo, Um Dafuq (Hofrat al-Nahas), and North and West Darfur. … Thousands of miners work these sites, yielding several tonnes annually—estimated at 2 to 5 tonnes based on local capacity and market size. This revenue helps secure supply lines and logistical operations for the RSF. Songo and Um Dafuq sit in the far southwest of South Darfur state within the Kafi Kingi area near Radom National Park, bordering the Central African Republic and South Sudan. This tri-border area is difficult to monitor officially, making it a key hub for gold smuggling, cross-border trade, and supply operations. Sources familiar with the area told Sudan Tribune that the RSF maintains control by securing mines, establishing checkpoints, and directly supervising gold markets and extraction sites. Sudan Tribune
How Online Disinformation Fuelled Ceuta Migrant Surge
A wave of disinformation on social media drove the deadly rush of tens of thousands of migrants into Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta last week, analysts told AFP. … A rumour that “the Ceuta border is open” spread like wildfire on social media as men, women and children risked their lives trying to reach Spain. An online campaign that generated 11 million views from early July fuelled the surge, according to a report published by Chema Gil, a security and intelligence analyst at the University of Murcia. An open-source investigation by technology company Golden Owl concluded “with a high degree of confidence” that the migrant rush “was a deliberately organised operation”. Marcelino Madrigal, an expert in social media and security, told AFP “there was evidence that this was going to happen”. “Rumours, messages and groups that caused this crisis” mainly appeared on Facebook and WhatsApp, said Madrigal, although it was impossible to determine “who or what ignited the flame”. … The Spanish government has singled out a deliberate misinterpretation of a July Supreme Court ruling that said irregular migrants would not be immediately returned if they arrived by sea. … Messages to that effect were “spread by accounts that were unidentifiable and had practically no interactions, which raises questions about the possible use of mass-diffusion algorithms,” said Mohamed Benaissa, president of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights. AFP
Nigeria State Police: Former Police Chiefs Raise Concerns, Submit Recommendations
Former Nigerian police chiefs have raised concerns about the country’s proposed state police framework and submitted recommendations to strengthen the model before it is finalised, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, has revealed. … Mr Disu stated this while delivering his opening remarks at a workshop organised by the National Institute of Police Studies in Abuja on Thursday. In his remarks, livestreamed by the police spokesperson for new media, Ali Giwa, the IGP said the retired police chiefs had reviewed the draft framework and offered inputs that would be incorporated into the final document. … He added that the committee benchmarked its recommendations against policing systems in countries with sub-national police structures, including India, the United States and Pakistan. … President Bola Tinubu has made the establishment of state police a cardinal objective of his administration. … The proposed legislation, as explained in a PREMIUM TIMES report, provides for state police services to be coordinated alongside the federal police under an expanded National Police Council, while introducing safeguards such as legislative confirmation of state police commissioners and independent state police service commissions to oversee recruitment and discipline. Premium Times
Congolese Authorities Hand over 15 Prisoners to M23 Rebels
Democratic Republic of Congo authorities released 15 prisoners and handed them over to rebels from the AFC/M23 movement on Friday, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the first known transfer of prisoners under last year’s deal to end fighting in the east. The handover marked one of the first concrete steps in implementing the agreement the government and the rebels signed last year in Qatar. It follows months of talks over the names of detainees to be freed. The ICRC said in a statement the 15 people left the government-held city of Beni in a convoy on Thursday evening and travelled through Uganda before being handed over to AFC/M23 in Rutshuru territory in eastern Congo. The ICRC said it did not know whether the prisoners belonged to the rebel group, but that they had agreed to be transferred. Reuters
Ebola Virus behind Massive Outbreak in DRC Could Be Mutating, Officials Say
The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000. Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go “door to door” looking for patients. The Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, was first reported on 15 May, although there are suspicions the disease could have been spreading since January. … Kaseya said he had spoken to the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and they planned studies “to check if there is no additional issue, or maybe if the virus is not mutating. Because the level of severity of this Bundibugyo outbreak is unprecedented.” The Guardian
Cameroon’s President Draws Concern and Criticism by Staying Abroad for 2 Months
Cameroon President Paul Biya on Thursday reached two months since the last time he was inside the borders of his country, a prolonged absence that has raised concerns for his health and criticisms about a possible power vacuum in the Central African nation. The world’s oldest president, who has led Cameroon since 1982, began his eighth term in office in November after winning a widely disputed election in October. But the 93-year-old left the country on June 7 for what Biya’s office described as “a brief private stay in Europe” that has become one of his longest trips overseas. His government later confirmed he was in Switzerland. The health of the president has long been a topic of speculation as he spends significant time in Europe, including France and Switzerland, where he often spends weeks while leaving governance to key party officials and family members. Cameroon’s constitution does not specifically prohibit a president from leaving the country for months. But without a vice president, an appointment Biya has full control over, the opposition has described the country as being run on “autopilot.” Opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the presidential runner-up in October’s election and a former Biya ally, said Thursday there is a widespread perception in Cameroon that “all is not well” with Biya, whose absence has angered the opposition. AP
Senegal Court Jails Three TikTok Influencers for Insulting the President
A Senegalese court sentenced three TikTok influencers to serve prison time and pay a fine for insulting the president, their lawyer said in a video posted on Facebook, a move that critics said was an assault on free speech in the West African country. The three men worked for online communications channel Feenal Digital, which produces content that some say favors Senegal’s ousted Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, the head of the PASTEF party. Sonko recently split from his ally, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who launched his own party last month. Feenal Digital aims to promote government and private-sector activities, according to its description on Facebook. Mandoumbe Diop, known as Lamignou Darou, was sentenced to three months in prison without suspension. He appeared to be the most influential of the three, with over half a million followers on his TikTok channel. His videos often draw tens of thousands of views. Magueye Diaw, known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, known as Ndiaye Touba, were each sentenced to two months without parole, Feenal Digital said on Facebook. Their lawyer, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, described their posts on TikTok as comical and said they did not merit criminal prosecution. He said Diaw and Ndiaye were fined 500,000 CFA ($800). Reuters