Sahel militants turn civilian drones into deadly weapons


Terror groups are increasingly using new tactics, notably armed suicide or kamikaze drones, according to a government statement released following several attacks on cities in western Mali on 1 July.

The use of commercially available small civilian drones for strikes by terrorist and armed rebel groups is not limited to Mali, and has become prevalent throughout the Central Sahel. Separatist and terror groups in the region likely draw inspiration from the successful use of drones by regular armies in other conflict zones, such as Libya and the Middle East.

Read more…
Source: Institute for Security Studies News


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • In Burkina Faso, US Troops Train Local Soldiers

    August 11, 2020

    The United States’s military involvement in Burkina Faso is opaque. Even diplomats and military officials from other countries who are based in Burkina Faso told the Mail & Guardian that they have little knowledge of what exactly is happening on the ground. According to Major Andrew Caulk, public affairs director for Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA), ...

  • Burkina Faso: Six dead in explosion in northern country

    August 2, 2020

    At least six people, including children, were killed on Saturday evening by the explosion of an improvised device as their cart passed through a region of northern Burkina Faso facing jihadist attacks, sources learned on Sunday. “A cart driven by a group of children exploded on top of a homemade device Saturday at around 5 ...

  • Landmines, improvised explosive devices pose deadly risks for displaced in Sahel and Lake Chad

    July 28, 2020

    UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for stronger efforts to mitigate the risks for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) posed by landmines and improvised explosive devices in Africa’s conflict-ridden Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions. Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a growing number of fatal incidents involving forcibly displaced populations. Mines, ...

  • Dozens killed in renewed violence in Sudan’s Darfur: UN

    July 27, 2020

    A new round of violence in Sudan’s Darfur region has killed more than 60 people, the United Nations said on Sunday, as the country’s prime minister promised fresh troops for the conflict-stricken region. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) said about 500 armed men on Saturday attacked the village of ...

  • French soldier killed in combat in Mali

    July 24, 2020

    A French soldier from the army’s First Parachute Hussar Regiment was killed in combat in Mali, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Thursday. “This soldier … was killed in fighting against armed terrorist groups, when an improvised explosive device was triggered next to his armoured vehicle,” the presidency said in a statement. France has more than 5,000 troops ...

  • UK loans Estonia four Jackal vehicles to support counter-terror mission in Mali

    July 9, 2020

    Estonian Special Forces deploying to Mali will be loaned four Jackal armoured vehicles by the UK Ministry of Defence, it is today announced. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey confirmed the loan, plus a three-week training package, for elite soldiers of the Estonian Armed Forces. The loan will equip Estonian troops as they join the international ...

  • Cameroon: Search operations intensify after 3rd explosive device detonates in Yaounde

    July 7, 2020

    Security forces in Cameroon’s political capital Yaounde have intensified sporadic search operations in neighbourhoods after a third explosive device detonated at Rond Point Damas last Thursday July 2, 2020, days after the first two detonated. According to reports, Tuesday July 7 search operation took patrol teams to the Mokolo Elobi and Efoulan neighbourhoods. In both areas, the ...

  • Sudan Calls On Parties of Ottawa Treaty to Overcome Challenges

    July 1, 2020

    The Chairman of the 18th meeting of the States Parties to the Ottawa Treaty, Ambassador Osman Abu Fatima Adam, the Acting Chargé d’Affairs to the Permanent Mission of Sudan in Geneva, addressed Tuesday, the intersessional meetings that will last until July 2. The meeting was held via video conference technology due to the corona pandemic, with ...

  • Terrorists Capitalize on COVID-19 to Erode State Authority, Attack National, International Forces in Sahel, Peacekeeping Chief Tells Security Council

    June 10, 2020

    African Members Emphasize Urgent Need to Boost Operational Capacity of G5 Sahel Joint Force, Humanitarian Relief for Displaced COVID-19 has added a layer of complexity to the highly volatile security situation in the Sahel, with terrorists capitalizing on the pandemic to undermine State authority and launch unrelenting attacks against national and international forces, the head of ...

  • ISIS in Africa: The End of the “Sahel Exception”

    June 2, 2020

    This article will analyze two exceptions. The first is the long absence of confrontation between al Qaeda and Islamic state offshoots in the Sahel area. The second is an elected official conducting negotiations with an al Qaeda offshoot. Both constitute the “Sahel exception.” The first factor has ended, but the second still holds. Al Qaeda and ...

  • French Foreign Legion soldier dies from injuries after anti-jihadist operation in Mali

    May 2, 2020

    A French Foreign Legion soldier who was fighting in Mali died on Friday from his injuries in an IED attack, the Élysée Palace announced in a press release on Saturday. Brigadier Dymyto Martynyouk was struck by an improvised explosive device during an “operation against terrorist groups” on April 23, the French presidential office said. He died at ...

  • Three killed in central Mali roadside bomb blast

    April 9, 2020

    A regional government official was travelling in a military convoy in the volatile centre of the country when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, killing him. Three people, including a government official, were killed Thursday in a roadside bomb attack in central Mali, the government said, as fresh violence hits the war-torn West African ...

  • Burkina Faso bomb kills 3 soldiers

    March 30, 2020

    A homemade bomb killed three paramilitary gendarmes and wounded three more Sunday in northwest Burkina Faso, security sources said. The attack on the patrol happened at Gomboro, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, a security source told AFP. The injured had been evacuated for treatment and the area was being searched, the source added. Another security source, confirming ...

  • France and allies establish new task force in Sahel

    March 28, 2020

    France and several of its European allies have officially set up a new task force, called Takuba, made of special forces that will fight armed groups in the West African region of Sahel alongside the armies of Mali and Niger. After an audio conference on Friday, representatives of 13 countries – Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, ...

  • How The UK Is Saving African Lives By Teaching Safe Bomb Disposal

    March 18, 2020

    The Counter IED Wing, part of the Humanitarian Peace Support School in Nairobi, Kenya, has trained 1,600 students from 15 African nations in just over three years. The teaching is led by former leading British Army bomb disposal expert Tony Dedman. He joined the Army when he was 15 and served for 22 years – carrying out ...