African solutions have not solved the Great Lakes problems
After months of diplomatic impasse and military advances of the Alliance Fleuve Congo/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),...
UN blue helmets essential to international peace – Guterres
In the light of worsening financial support for peacekeeping from the wider international community, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has it the world...
UN Peacekeeping Ministerial underway in Germany
Around a thousand delegates are currently in Munich, Germany, for the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial working to shape a more agile, intelligent and...
Terror attacks continue in northern Mozambique
The exit of the SAMIM southern African regional bloc peacekeeping mission from Mozambique last July did not see hostilities ending in its Cabo Delgado...
ISS seminar hears DR Congo is quasi-state lacking internal legitimacy
Troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has had a peacekeeping presence in one form or another since 1999, needs years of dialogue and...
Ops normal for Africom in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency
There is no discernible change to date in the operations of Africom, one of seven United States (US) geographic commands worldwide, in the first...
Geopolitics and conflict in the DRC to come under the spotlight
Since January 2025, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has witnessed a sharp escalation in violence, with the M23 rebel group capturing...
Motshekga can expect SAMIDRC questions at committee meeting amid DRC withdrawal
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) on Thursday 1 May confirmed that “the phased withdrawal” of troops and equipment from the eastern Democratic Republic...
Challenges facing the latest truce between Kinshasa and M23
On 23 April, delegations from Kinshasa and rebel group M23’s political affiliate, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), declared their intent to work towards a ceasefire...
Ramaphosa calls for comprehensive, unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on both Ukraine and Russia to commit to a comprehensive and unconditional ceasefire, paving the way for meaningful dialogue...
SADC denies SAMIDRC part of operations against M23 in DRC; little progress on withdrawal
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) refutes allegations its now terminated mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is part of joint...
G7 and EU denounce two-year-old Sudan war
The war in Sudan, dubbed by some the one the world forgot, this week marked the second year of ongoing hostilities between the Sudanese...
SAMIDRC troops to withdraw by road through Rwanda
Withdrawal of the terminated Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – to start on as yet unspecified date...
US Senate hears of growing terrorist threat in Africa
The senior United States (US) military representative in Africa, Marine Corps General Michael Langley, underlined the continent’s strategic importance when he delivered the Africom...
Ethiopia’s war may have ended, but the Tigray crisis hasn’t
For over 20 years, Ethiopia was led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of four ethnic-based political parties representing Tigray, Amhara,...
Quick reaction forces seen as integral to AUSSOM structure
Three months into its third identity in 18 years, the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia wrapped up a technical work session to finalise...
SADC’s withdrawal from DRC not a sign of abandonment of peace efforts – Mashatile
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has said the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) decision to withdraw the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) should not...
Detention of South Sudanese Vice President could spur civil war – UN Mission Head
Less than a week after warning the African Union (AU) that South Sudan was on the brink of civil war, the senior United Nations...
DRC Defence Minister visits South Africa amidst regional peace efforts
The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC’s) Defence Minister, Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita, has embarked on a visit to South Africa to strengthen bilateral defence relations...
What France loses by closing its military bases in Africa
Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced on 31 December 2024 that all foreign military bases in his country would close by 2025. On the...
Anatomy of SADC’s failure in eastern DRC
On 13 March, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) announced the termination and phased withdrawal of its military deployment in eastern Democratic Republic of...
Mozambican military receives final batch of European-funded equipment
Mozambique’s armed forces have received the final batch of equipment provided under the European Peace Facility (EPF), which has been supporting the Forcas Armadas...
AU warned South Sudan on the brink of civil war
The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) was this week warned South Sudan is “on the brink of relapse into civil war”...
Decades of security cooperation under threat in Lake Chad Basin
Niger has suspended its participation in the Multinational Joint Task Force, and Chad has threatened to withdraw.
In March 1994, the Lake Chad Basin Commission...
EAC and SADC forge joint strategy to restore peace and stability in the Eastern...
The East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have joined forces to address the escalating security crisis in the eastern...
Peace in Sudan: a fresh mediation effort is needed – how it could work
Intense fighting has ravaged Sudan since 15 April 2023. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its erstwhile comrades-in-arms, the paramilitary Rapid Support...
SADC to withdraw troops from the DRC
A Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit on Thursday terminated the mandate of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and directed the...
Another virtual SADC summit on DR Congo conflict coming
President Cyril Ramaphosa, also Commander-in-Chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), yesterday (11 March) told Parliament the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would...
SADC Heads of State summit to have final say on SAMIDRC withdrawal
Assertions by South Africa’s defence minister that SA National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will only exit...
The evolving role of PPPs in peacekeeping and security in Africa
In recent years, the landscape of conflict in Africa has shifted from traditional wars between states to internal conflicts involving increasingly sophisticated non-state armed...
US-Mali Defence cooperation enters a new chapter
The United States has taken a significant step in strengthening defence ties with Mali, with the Malian Armed Forces hosting a high-level military law...
The DRC conflict enters a dangerous new phase
The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has entered a new and more destabilizing stage. A call for a pause in...
The world has gone from peace through dialogue to peace through force – ACCORD
The rapidly evolving security landscape in Africa, and the wider world, is forcing governments and defence stakeholders to rethink their strategies. With rising insurgencies,...
Funding for Somalia’s new AU peace mission hangs in the balance
A new African Union (AU) peace support mission in Somalia started work on 1 January. This is the third consecutive mission in the country,...
SADC mission in DR Congo earns “in dilemma” tag at defence chiefs meeting
Chiefs of defence forces or nominated representatives from 13 African countries across two regional economic communities (RECs) agree any short, medium, and long term...
“Critically injured” SA soldiers back home after mercy flight
The South African military today (Tuesday, 25 February) confirmed repatriation of “a group” of wounded soldiers to South Africa for “high level medical care”.
Their...
UN Security Council urges Rwanda to stop supporting M23 in eastern DRC
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday 21 February that strongly condemned the ongoing offensive by M23 rebels in the...
Death toll in Goma tops four thousand
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) heard this week “a parallel administration” seemingly set up by the Congo River Alliance (CRA) is running Goma...
AU adds its voice to calls for DRC ceasefire
The voice of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) has been added to those worldwide calling for an immediate...
M23 rebels are marching across eastern DRC: the interests driving players in the conflict
The current conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resemble the situation during the Second Congo War between 1998 and 2003. This resulted...
DRC among four African trouble spots named by Guterres at top AU meeting
Naming specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The Sahel, Somalia and Sudan, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the weekend high level...
EU Parliament hears DR Congo crisis is an “escalation”
Ongoing violence and the resultant surge in humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) attracted the attention of the European Union (EU)...
US Defence Secretary makes Africom visit a strategic priority
On 11 February—and less than three weeks into his tenure—US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has made a decisive move, traveling to US Africa...
Overcoming security dilemmas in the Great Lakes region
Since the December 2024 meeting between Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Angola was cancelled due to Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s...
DRC conflict: talks have failed to bring peace. Is it time to try sanctions?
The crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) escalated at the end of January 2025 when Goma, the capital of the province...
Technical direction on ceasefire implementation awaited following DRC summit
Saturday’s joint East African Community (EAC)/Southern African Development Community (SADC) eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) summit, apart from calling for an immediate cessation...
Guterres says eastern DR Congo crisis needs mediation, not military intervention
Ahead of tomorrow’s summit on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Dar es Salaam, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it...
Eastern DRC: unpacking the difficult task of regional diplomacy
On 27 January, Rwanda-backed Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) forces took control of Goma, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) North...
Ramaphosa will be at Dar es Salaam summit on DRC as SAMIDRC faces uncertain...
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be in Dar es Salaam on Saturday for the jointly hosted summit on the eastern Democratic Republic of...
Eastern DR Congo hostilities to be sole focus of Dar es Salaam summit
African eyes as well as others in the United States (US) and elsewhere in the world will be focussed on Tanzanian port city Dar...
