Violent extremist groups in the Sahel, including Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), are exploiting Starlink to enhance their operational capabilities.
Criminal actors are not only trafficking Starlink devices but using them to evade law enforcement and sustain illicit economies. Their ability to do so is underpinned by an illicit supply chain that allows them to obtain Starlink devices and bypass nascent regulations on their use. Starlink, a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites, launched its first 60 satellites in 2019. By March 2025, it had more than 7 100 in orbit. It has been celebrated as a solution to help bridge the global digital divide. This could be particularly valuable in parts of rural Africa where factors such as conflict, limited private investment and tenuous state control continue to constrain internet connectivity.
Read more…
Source: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Angola: Unexploded high-powered bomb destroyed in Moxico province
January 28, 2024
An unexploded bomb, model FAB-250, considered “rare and highly powerful”, was destroyed in the town of Lushivi, 103 kilometers south of Luena, eastern Moxico province, by the Mining Advisory Group (MAG). Capable of destroying an area of 250 square meters, the artefact, weighing more than 100 kilograms, was recently discovered by a farmer in that town ...
- Nigeria: IED kills six pupils in Borno
January 28, 2024
Six pupils of the Tsangaya Quranic Centre in Gubio town have been killed by an Improvised Explosive Device which exploded near the Tsangaya in the Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State. The incident occurred on Saturday when a metal scavenger unknowingly collected and stored various metallic items in a building near the Tsangaya school. Read more… Source: ...
- Egyptian, British military engineers conduct counter-IED training
January 27, 2024
Egyptian and British military engineers engaged in collaborative training at the headquarters of Egypt’s Military Engineers Institute focused on effectively countering improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The training encompassed a series of theoretical and practical activities, introducing advanced methods using the latest tools to detect and handle IEDs on roads and in facilities, said Egyptian Armed Forces ...
- Yemen: Oil tanker on fire in Gulf of Aden after Houthi missile attack
January 27, 2024
An oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden is on fire after a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi militants, in the latest incident linked to the Iran-backed group in the key shipping route. The operator of the British oil tanker Marlin Luanda said Friday the vessel had been “struck by a missile in the Gulf of ...
- Nigerian security forces destroy bomb factory in Imo
January 26, 2024
Nigerian security forces have destroyed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) factory in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State. The operation was jointly carried out by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Civil Defence Corps. Lt.-Col. Jonah Unuakhalu, Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Enugu. ...
- Somalia: PMPF water tanker targeted in apparent IED attack
January 25, 2024
An explosion, believed to be caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), struck a water tanker owned by the Puntland Marine Police Force (PMPF) in the outskirts of Bosaso on Wednesday. The attack occurred on the road on the outskirts of the port town of Bosaso, resulting in the destruction of the tanker. Fortunately, two soldiers ...
- US Navy intercepts missiles in Red Sea while escorting Maersk ships
January 25, 2024
The Maersk shipping company said explosions forced two ships operated by its US subsidiary and carrying US military supplies to turn around when they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, accompanied by the US Navy. “While en route, both ships reported seeing explosions close by and the US Navy accompaniment also intercepted multiple projectiles,” ...
- Nigeria: Thirty people killed in latest herder violence in Plateau State
January 25, 2024
At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in Nigeria’s central Plateau State, where clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farming communities have erupted for years, a community organisation and an aid group source said on Thursday. Despite a 24-hour curfew imposed on Tuesday in Plateau’s Mangu local district, schools, places of worship, and ...
- Uganda: Police recover explosive device in Entebbe
January 24, 2024
The Uganda Police’s Counter Terrorism officers in Kampala Metropolitan on Tuesday recovered a suspected explosive device near Rolex Beach within the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe, in Wakiso District. ASP Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson confirmed the successful detonation of the handmade grenade. This was recovered in an operation led by the Entebbe Division ...
- Somalia: Heavy fighting as security forces battle al-Shabab attack
January 24, 2024
Heavy fighting is underway in central Somalia after al-Shabab militants attacked military bases in Mudug region. Eyewitnesses have told the BBC they heard heavy gunfire and explosions at dawn on Wednesday. The attack reportedly began with a suicide bombing, targeting government special forces. Galmudug Security Minister Mohamed Abdi Aden told the BBC that troops are still ...
- South Africa: Man arrested for starting deadly Johannesburg fire
January 24, 2024
South African police said Wednesday that they had arrested a man accused of starting a fire that killed more than 70 in Johannesburg last year. The 29-year-old was detained on Tuesday after confessing his involvement before an enquiry was established to investigate the tragedy. Seventy-seven people were killed and scores injured as a blaze ripped through ...
- U.S. Central Command Forces Destroy Two Houthi Terrorists’ Anti-Ship Missiles
January 23, 2024
TAMPA, Fla. – On Jan. 24 at approximately 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes against two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch. U.S. forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant ...
- Cambodia: CMAC director general discusses demining cooperation with delegates from African countries
January 22, 2024
Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, met with delegates from 5 African countries to discuss demining cooperation. The meeting was held at the CMAC headquarters in Phnom Penh on Monday. The delegates consisted of Mike Rashid Fulla Obaldo, Director General of the National Mine Action Authority of South Sudan, Dahir Abdirahman Abdull, Director ...
- Nigeria: One killed, 10 children injured in Kaduna explosion
January 21, 2024
The Kaduna State Government has confirmed that one person died and 10 others were injured in the explosion that rocked Kidandan village in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The Nation gathered that the incident occurred Saturday afternoon, as children had gone into the bush to fetch firewood and returned home with a strange object ...
- Kenya: Police officer killed, two others injured in IED explosion in Mandera
January 18, 2024
At least one police officer was Thursday killed and two injured when a bomb that had been tied on a donkey cart exploded at the cross border of Bula Hawa in Mandera county. Two other officers were injured in the morning incident, police said. Two donkeys were crossing with luggage from Somalia’s side and had a ...