Lethal drones spread terror throughout Africa

Report denounces the growing use of military drones in Africa, where hundreds of civilians were killed in unmistakable or accountable air attacks

Nearly a thousand civilians were killed and hundreds were injured in military drone attacks throughout Africa, as the proliferation of unmanned air vehicles remains unmigned on the continent, according to one report. According to The Guardian, at least 50 separate lethal attacks by Armed Forces in Africa were confirmed during the three years until November 2024, with analysts describing an “alarming pattern of civil damage” with little or no liability.

Although the rapid growth in Ukraine and Russia-armed drones is given significant attention, little attention is being given to growing in Africa from a new generation of cheaper imported drones, such as Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2, Cora Morris said of the Drone Wars UK campaign group, which published a report on the growth of armed drones in Africa, entitled Death on Delivery (Death in delivery).

“This needs to change. Unless the international community quickly advances to develop and implement a new control regime, we are very likely to see more examples of civilian deaths from armed drones use, ”Morris said.

So far, the use of armed drones has been confirmed in at least six conflicts in Africa: Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, where most of the attacks were recorded.

Drone attacks by the Ethiopian Armed Forces against opponents, such as the Liberation Front of the Tigray people, killed more than 490 civilians in 26 separate attacks.

Elsewhere, at least 64 civilians died in nine attacks by Mali’s Armed Forces against separatist groups in the north of the country. In neighboring Burkina Faso, researchers found that more than 100 civilians were killed in drone attacks by the country’s military forces.

The Drone Wars UK report said the failure to control the proliferation of armed drones in Africa has led to the deaths of over 940 civilians since November 2021, a number it described as conservative.

Most armed drones in Africa are imported from Turkey, along with China and Iran, with researchers warning of the growing popularity of “medium altitude and long duration” drones (Male).

These drones can be operated remotely for many hours and long distances, surveillance and air attacks.

Proliferation – and the risks – of armed drones in African conflicts was observed in the Sudan Civil War, with their use in densely populated areas, such as markets in the capital, cartoon, having “serious” consequences for civilians. Iranian drones, Chinese and Turks were implemented by the Sudanese Army, while his opponent – the rapid support forces (RSF) – used drones provided by the United Arab Emirates, said the report.

At Burkina Faso, the Bayraktar TB2 were implemented by the bourgeois military forces in their fight against a jihadist insurgency. State media often celebrated the “neutralization” of terrorists using what it described as sophisticated and accurate drone technologies.

However, reports from local sources often have a different narrative, pointing to a high number of civilian deaths. An incident in the Sahel region of the country in August 2023 involved drones reaching a market in the village of Bouro, killing at least 28 civilians.

The report said: “The widespread celebration by the Burchinense government of attacks such as the Market of Bouro is based on the perception of war with drones as an efficient and advanced development in the country’s military operations, meaning a technically sophisticated arsenal operated by a vigilant and effective government, with firm control over its territories.

“However, field research quickly reveals the falseness of this image: exposing erratic bombings against innocent communities, which only generate more destruction and insecurity.”