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Posts Tagged africa
Interview With Former Rhodesian SAS
From Sofrep interview:
The Forgotten Boer War
From War on the Rocks:
The British Army suffered a bloody and bruising experience in the Boer War. The war erupted in South Africa in October 1899 when the Boer republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, infuriated by years of British political pressure and military threats, launched a pre-emptive war to secure their independence. Most of the British press greeted this with jingoistic glee and some journalists confidently predicted that the war would be “over by Christmas.”
But the war confounded expectations. Much of this was down to the nature of the Boer military. Although the Boers lacked a standing army, they possessed an effective militia system that mustered white citizens into units based on their local district. These men had no formal training but came from a frontier culture that produced tough individuals, many of whom were skilled marksmen and experienced riders. Most Boers went to war with their own rifles and horses, and the government provided equipment and mounts if required. These rugged frontiersmen would prove hardy and highly mobile fighters. It is little surprise that Winston Churchill, a veteran of the war himself, would later choose to name Britain’s first special forces Commandos, taking the word from the Boer term for military units.
Botswana To Issue New Hunting Licenses After 5 Years
From Guns.com:
Citing increased human-wildlife conflicts and deaths after a five-year ban on elephant hunting, the African country of Botswana is now reinstating the practice.
Home to the largest population of elephants in Africa, Botswana says their herds have been exploding in size, growing from 50,000 in 1991 to more than 130,000 today. A 2001 government Elephant Management Plan recommended that Botswana’s environment could best maintain only 54,000 of the animals. This, according to President Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi, is “far more than Botswana’s fragile environment, already stressed by drought and other effects of climate change, can safely accommodate.â€
Looking Back For Counter Insurgency Tactics
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 16/Jul/2018 12:45
From SOFREP:
In the mid 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) faced a boiling communist inspired insurgency that sought to overthrow the existing government that was led by the descendants of European settlers. The Rhodesian Bushwar would last over fifteen years, coming on the heels of the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam Conflict. Faced with bureaucratic constraints and operational shortcomings, the Rhodesians were forced to maximize the potential of their meager resources by creating highly reliable small unit forces that could conduct raids and “pseudo-operations†against rebel forces. Among these units were the Rhodesian Light Infantry Commandos (RLI), the Rhodesian SAS and the Selous Scouts. Though modern circumstances have changed, the tactics of the Selous Scouts continue to be relevant and apply to the ongoing fight against ISIS and the Global War on Terror.
U.S. Embassy Refused Calls For Help In South Sudan
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 24/Aug/2016 07:00
From NBC:
They shot dead a local journalist while forcing the foreigners to watch, raped several foreign women, singled out Americans, beat and robbed people and carried out mock executions, several witnesses told The Associated Press.
For hours throughout the assault, the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed less than a mile away refused to respond to desperate calls for help. Neither did embassies, including the U.S. Embassy.
ISIS Leaders Killed By Mysterious Sniper
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 1/Feb/2016 13:29
From The Daily Mail:
According to unconfirmed social media reports, ISIS fighters are now sweeping the city for the man ordinary Libyans are said to be dubbing ‘Daesh hunter’.Â
The reporter also urges caution in believing what could be nothing more than ‘wild rumours’ on his Twitter account.Â
Even so, social media is ablaze with reports of rumours of the sniper, who has become somewhat of a hero to those living under the control of the evil terror group, according to the Libya Herald.
Muslims Throw Christians Overboard While Traveling To Europe
From CNN:
Muslims who were among migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy in a boat this week threw 12 fellow passengers overboard — killing them — because the 12 were Christians, Italian police said Thursday.
Italian authorities have arrested 15 people on suspicion of murdering the Christians at sea, police in Palermo, Sicily, said.
South African Mercenaries Enlisted To Fight Boko Haram
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 2/Apr/2015 07:00
From Financial Times:
Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Hotel
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 27/Mar/2015 15:06
From CNN:
The attack began around 5 p.m. when a car bomb exploded at the hotel’s entrance, according to witness Aden Hussein, who said he was meters away from the hotel when the blast happened.
Gunmen then went inside the hotel, shooting people, Hussein said.
One of the attackers, wearing a belt with explosives, blew himself up inside the hotel, police Capt. Ahmed Abdi said
A few hours after the assault began, state-run media reported that security forces stormed the building and killed the remaining assailants.
Pentagon Tried to Stop Secretary of State Clinton From Going to War in Libya
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch, Warriors on 2/Feb/2015 15:29
From The Washington Times:
Mrs. Clinton’s main argument was that Gadhafi was about to engage in a genocide against civilians in Benghazi, where the rebels held their center of power. But defense intelligence officials could not corroborate those concerns and in fact assessed that Gadhafi was unlikely to risk world outrage by inflicting mass casualties, officials told The Times. As a result, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, strongly opposed Mrs. Clinton’s recommendation to use force.
Instead of relying on the Defense Department or the intelligence community for analysis, officials told The Times, the White House trusted Mrs. Clinton’s charge, which was then supported by Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice and National Security Council member Samantha Power, as reason enough for war.
“The decision to invade [Libya] had already been made, so everything coming out of the State Department at that time was to reinforce that decision,†the official explained, speaking only on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
CDC: Ebola Could Infect A Half Million By January
From Washington Post:
The Ebola epidemic sweeping West Africa could infect up to 500,000 people by the end of January, according to a new estimate under development by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC projection assumes no additional aid by governments and relief agencies. But the United States this week launched a $750Â million effort to establish treatment facilities with 1,700 beds in Liberia, the hardest hit country. And the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to create an emergency medical mission to respond to the outbreak, with an advance team in West Africa by the end of the month.
Americans Who Fought For Jihad
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 23/Sep/2014 07:13
From The New York Times:
They walked parallel paths to trouble, never graduating from high school and racking up arrests. They converted to Islam around the same time and exalted their new faith to family and friends, declaring that they had found truth and certainty. One after the other, both men abandoned their American lives for distant battlefields.
Today, both are dead. While their lives ended five years and over 2,000 miles apart, their intertwined journeys toward militancy offer a sharp example of how the allure of Islamist extremism has evolved, enticing similar pools of troubled, pliable young Americans to conflicts in different parts of the world. The tools of online propaganda and shadowy networks of facilitators that once beckoned Mr. Kastigar and Somali men to the Horn of Africa are now drawing hundreds of Europeans and about a dozen known Americans to fight with ISIS, according to American law enforcement and counterterrorism officials.
Nigeria: Opting Out of an Insurgency
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 22/Jul/2014 12:51
“Nigeria: Opting Out of an Insurgency is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
Summary
Editor’s Note:Â This is the third installment in a three-part series on militant activity in Nigeria.Â
In some ways, the future of northern Nigeria’s counterinsurgency rests in the hands of Nigerian voters. If President Goodluck Jonathan is elected for another term, the Boko Haram campaign will intensify. If Jonathan loses, the presidency would go to a northerner, who would be better suited to developing the political, social and economic relationships needed to wage an effective counterinsurgency.
Analysis
Of course, the presidential election is a national contest, not a regional one, and so the consequences stretch far beyond northern Nigeria. Though Boko Haram has captured the attention of international media, it is not the only militant group with which Abuja contends, nor is it the only group that has a vested interest in the election’s outcome. If Jonathan is not re-elected and Niger Delta militants lose their political patronage, they will probably attack oil infrastructure in the country’s southwest, as they did in the mid-2000s. Nigeria conceivably could see two active insurgencies, depending on how the election plays out.
However, it is still possible to placate Niger Delta militants even if Jonathan loses. If Niger Delta officials are appointed to senior posts in the new administration, they could keep their patronage networks intact. Read the rest of this entry »