Terrorism and violent extremism are arguably Africa’s greatest security threats in 2021. Local groups with international terror links are embedded in East, West, and Southern Africa. Their activities foment local conflicts and enable organized crime rackets destabilizing already fragile political landscapes. Meanwhile, years of government-led security force interventions, many supported by U.S. and European governments, have not dislodged the insurgents. Unless local approaches that incorporate tactics beyond kinetic counterterrorism are included in strategies to prevent violent extremism, Africa’s many national and regional efforts will fail to deliver sustainable and credible peace.
On February 24, USIP co-hosted an event with the RESOLVE Network and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) that examined the role of non-state actors and local communities in preventing the spread of violent extremism. Drawing on research from RESOLVE’s Africa portfolio and ISS’s research,
weekly newspaper.
The use of explosives in cash-in-transit robberies and heists is methodical, almost expected . The case last weekend that targeted nine Absa ATMs in the Strand and Gordon’s Bay areas in Cape Town was different: new modus operandi, more terroristic in nature.
On the morning of 30 January, a group of about five men overpowered and abducted two SBV Services employees who were doing maintenance on a faulty ATM in Rusthof, Strand.
The employees were disarmed, forced to their vehicle and one employee was made to strap explosives on to his body.
Between 8am and 9am, the Absa ATMs were targeted and cleared along the two coastal areas. This was according to the Western Cape Hawks spokesperson, Zinzi Hani. No arrests have yet been made and the Hawks investigation was still under way at the time of writing.
South Africa lost all its bids for positions on the African Union Commission this weekend, in what some are calling a failure of foreign policy.
South Africa and southern Africa failed to strategise ahead of the AU summit on Saturday and as a result lost any chance of securing the powerful position of commissioner for political affairs, peace and security.
The job went to Nigerian diplomat Bankole Adeoye. South Africa’s Jeremiah (Kingsley) Mamabolo, a seasoned diplomat who has been South Africa’s ambassador to the AU, UN, Nigeria and Zimbabwe as well as heading the joint African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur had been shortlisted for the post.
Ulster University
Ireland and the United Nations Security Council: What can be achieved for Peace and Security?
The Irish Peace and Conflict Network, which includes the Transitional Justice I, hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, 2 February 2021, which explored what success and impact in relation to peace and conflict would look like for Ireland during Ireland s term on the Security Council. It explored the priorities for Security Council action in conflict-affected contexts, and what we can learn from past experiences of member states on the Council.
Ireland and the United Nations Security Council: What can be achieved for Peace and Security?