Category World News

The use of drones by several African countries in their fight against armed groups is causing significant harm to civilians, according to a new report.

More than 943 civilians have been killed in at least 50 incidents across six African countries from November 2021 to November 2024, according to the report by Drone Wars UK.

The report, titled Death on Delivery, reveals that strikes regularly fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants in their operations. Experts told Al Jazeera that the death toll is likely only the tip of the iceberg because many countries run secretive drone campaigns.

As drones rapidly become the weapon of choice for governments across the continent, what are the consequences for civilians in conflict zones? Is it time for the world to regulate the sale of drones?

What explains the surge in drone acquisitions by African nations?

The report highlights how the number of African nations acquiring armed drones, specifically Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) drones, has increased dramatically in recent years.

Since 2022, at least 10 African countries have obtained these weapons with governments justifying their purchases as a means to combat rebellions and security threats.

However, the reality on the ground has often been different with many strikes leading to mass civilian casualties, raising concerns about human rights violations.

Cora Morris, the report’s author, said drones have been marketed as an “efficient” and modern way to conduct warfare with minimal risk to military personnel.

But in reality, that’s not always true as civilian casualties have mounted.

Morris said drones “significantly lower the threshold for the use of force, making it much easier for armies to deploy munitions without risk to their own forces”.

“The result of this has been a grave civilian toll”, she told Al Jazeera.

The proliferation of drones has also been fuelled by geopolitical shifts as African governments seek greater military self-reliance and turn to new suppliers willing to sell without stringent conditions.

Michael Spagat, head of the department of economics at Royal Holloway University of London, sees the trend as primarily driven by economics.

“Buying drones has become a cheap way for states to acquire significant firepower. Drones have the additional advantage that attackers don’t have to worry about pilots getting killed”, Spagat told Al Jazeera. “You don’t have to invest in training people you might lose”.

He also said this trend is likely just at its beginning.

“Some countries may still be getting up to speed on the use of their drones, and at some point, we’ll start hearing about nonstate groups using potent drones”, he warned.

“These are still fairly advanced technologies, but I doubt it will stay like this forever”, he added.

While the report primarily examines the consequences of the use of drones in Africa, it also touches on the key suppliers fuelling this surge.

Turkiye, China and Iran have emerged as the dominant exporters, the report found, and supply a range of drone systems to African nations.

Morris said the role of actors like Turkiye and China, which have been willing to supply drones “relatively cheaply with little concern for how they are to be used”, means that these weapons have proliferated rapidly in the past few years, particularly to states fighting armed groups.

Which countries were investigated?

The report identifies six key nations where the use of drones has had a particularly deadly impact:

Sudan

Drones have been used extensively in Sudan’s ongoing civil war with reports of strikes hitting civilian infrastructure, including markets and residential areas. Both warring sides – Sudan’s military and its Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group – have used drones.

Somalia

The country has long been a battleground for drone warfare, primarily driven by operations targeting al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab. However, civilian deaths have been alarmingly frequent, raising concerns over the precision and intelligence behind these strikes. The United States military’s Africa Command has conducted hundreds of air strikes in Somalia that it said targeted al-Shabab fighters but also ended up killing civilians in so-called collateral damage.

Nigeria

The Nigerian government has employed drones in its fight against Boko Haram and other armed groups. Yet there have been multiple instances of strikes on civilians, including in December 2023 when a drone attack hit a group of people observing a Muslim celebration in Tudun Biri in Kaduna State.

Burkina Faso

Conflict in Burkina Faso began to intensify around 2015 as armed group activity spilled over from neighbouring Mali. It is part of a wider regional crisis in the Sahel.

Mali

Both Mali and Burkina Faso have ramped up their use of drones against armed groups. But these strikes have repeatedly resulted in civilian casualties.

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government has increasingly relied on drones in its fight against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Multiple strikes on refugee camps and marketplaces have led to widespread condemnation. Human rights organisations and the United Nations have decried the lack of accountability.

What have been some of the deadliest strikes?

The impact has been devastating with several strikes leading to significant losses of civilian lives. Among the most tragic incidents documented in the report are:

• Nigeria, December 2023: The drone strike in Tudun Biri village meant to target fighters from an armed group instead hit a crowd of Muslims observing the holiday celebrating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, killing 85 people. A government statement said the civilian toll was the result of an incorrect analysis.
• Ethiopia, 2022-2023: An attack in October 2022 on residents in Oromia’s Ofu Bekke village killed at least 86 people. The report said government forces had intensified drone attacks after a growing number of Oromo Liberation Army fighters were reported in the area. It added that in the weeks that followed the initial attack, at least a dozen further drone strikes were carried out on the Oromia region with casualties reported in at least 10 of these strikes.
• Somalia, March 2024: Two drone strikes that hit southern Somalia’s Jaffey Farm and nearby Bagdad village killed at least 23 people in an incident that drew a widespread outcry and calls for accountability. Families of the victims described the incident as a massacre while a statement by Somalia’s government claimed all who were killed were “terrorists”, refusing to acknowledge harm done to civilians, according to the report.
• Burkina Faso, August 2023: A drone strike by the Burkinabe military hit a market in Bouro village, killing at least 28 people. The incident is just one that exposes “erratic bombings of innocent communities which sow only further destruction and insecurity”, the report said.
• Sudan, September 2023: A drone attack on the Goro market in Khartoum killed at least 46 people. Reports and witness statements suggested the attack was carried out by drones or military aircraft believed to be affiliated with Sudan’s military.

Morris said there is “an obvious unwillingness to properly investigate claims of civilian casualties”, adding that “the mounting scale of civilian harm worldwide betrays a wholesale failure to take seriously the loss of civilian life.

” This is altogether more brazen where the use of drones is concerned with a concerning normalisation of civilian death accompanying their proliferation, “she said.

Does the sale of drones require better oversight and regulation?

The report emphasises the urgent need for greater oversight and regulation of drone use amid a rapid expansion of drone warfare worldwide.

In the past 10 years, the number of countries operating drones has gone up from four to 48, according to the report.

It said three main international arms control agreements currently apply to the export of armed drones but they all have” significant weaknesses”.

In its recommendations, the report’s author urged the international community to move rapidly towards establishing a new international control regime focused on the prevention of harm arising from the proliferation of armed uncrewed systems.

Morris and Spagat agreed that drone warfare is only going to expand.

Greenlanders are heading to the polls today to vote in a snap general election amid geopolitical tensions stirred by President Donald Trump’s claims to make Greenland – currently a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – a part of the United States.

Last month, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede called for an early election in a social media post, stating, “We are in a serious time. A time we have never experienced in our country. The time is not for internal division but for cooperation and unity for our country. I am once again more than ready to work for you and to lead our country”.

Since Trump’s return to office, he has reignited discussions about taking control of Greenland, something he first spoke about in 2019, given its strategic location and resource-rich land.

Where is Greenland and who lives there?

Located mostly within the Arctic Circle, Greenland is the world’s largest island and is geographically part of North America.

About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by glaciers, so most of its population lives along the coastline. The capital, Nuuk, is the most populated area, home to about one-third of Greenland’s 56, 000 residents.

Some 95 percent of the population is Protestant, while the remaining 5 percent is either secular or belongs to religious minorities, including traditional Inuit spiritual groups.

At about 2500 BCE, the first Inuit people settled in Greenland.

In the 10th century, Norse explorers arrived in Greenland and established settlements. By 1814, Denmark had officially made Greenland a colony.

Though a Danish territory, Greenland became self-governing in 1979 after more than two centuries under Danish control. It is one of Denmark’s two autonomous territories, with the Faroe Islands being the other.

In 1941, during World War II, the US and Denmark agreed to allow American forces to defend Greenland. Its strategic location was vital for countering German submarines and securing shipping routes. The US maintained a military presence throughout the Cold War, using Greenland for early-warning radar and monitoring Soviet activity.

In 2009, Greenland gained self-rule over most of its internal affairs, including control over natural resources and governance. However, Denmark still handles foreign policy, defence and funding.

A history of US takeover requests

The takeover of Greenland has been proposed numerous times throughout history.

• 1867 – The then-US secretary of state explored purchasing Greenland and Iceland from Denmark, but Denmark showed no interest in selling.
• 1910 – A three-way land swap which would involve the US acquiring Greenland in exchange for giving Denmark parts of the US-held Philippines, and the return of Northern Schleswig from Germany back to Denmark was proposed.
• 1946 – The US secretly offered Denmark $100m in gold for Greenland. It was considered a “military necessity” under President Harry Truman.
• 1955 – US joint chiefs of staff recommended trying to buy Greenland to ensure military access, but no official offer was made.
• 2019 – Trump first floated the idea of the US purchasing Greenland from Denmark, however, it was rejected by Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. This led to Trump’s cancellation of a state visit to Copenhagen.
• 2025 – President Trump said that owning Greenland was a “necessity” for US security. In February, Republican Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would authorise the president to enter into negotiations with the government of Denmark to purchase or otherwise acquire Greenland.

Why is there a US military base in Greenland?

Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is located in the northwestern corner of Greenland. It is the Department of Defense’s northernmost installation, and is operated by the 821st Space Base Group and part of Space Base Delta 1.

The base supports missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance missions and satellite command and control. It is strategically positioned to counter Russian activities in the Arctic.

About 650 personnel are stationed at the base, including US Air Force and Space Force members, as well as Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic civilian contractors.

Under a 1951 agreement with Denmark, the US is permitted to establish and maintain military facilities in Greenland as part of mutual defence within the NATO framework.

Denmark also has a military presence in Greenland under the Joint Arctic Command, which is headquartered in Nuuk, where its main tasks are surveillance and search and rescue operations, and the “assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands”, according to Danish Defence.

What are Greenland’s resources?

Greenland is rich in natural resources, including zinc, lead, gold, iron ore, rare earth elements (REEs), copper and oil.

It is home to some of the world’s largest deposits of rare earths used in high-tech industries. These resources have attracted significant attention, including from Trump, who recently attempted to negotiate with Ukraine to access its minerals.

Gold pockets exist in areas like Nanortalik and south Greenland. It also has deposits of diamonds in the Maniitsoq region.

Copper deposits are largely unexplored in Greenland, according to the Mineral Resources Authority, with areas in the northeast and central east largely untapped. Iron ore deposits are dotted around West Greenland, while nickel traces have been found around the island’s southwest coast.

Graphite, used mostly in EV batteries and steelmaking, is also reported to exist in Greenland, with exploration around Amitsoq. While zinc has been found in the north of Greenland, titanium and vanadium deposits are located in the southwest, east and south of the territory. Tungsten is also found in central east and northeast Greenland with assessed deposits in the south and west.

How big is Greenland in reality?

On some map projections, which enlarge landmasses near the poles, Greenland appears much bigger than it really is.

In reality, the Arctic island covers 2.17 million square kilometres (836, 330 square miles), making it roughly three times the size of the US state of Texas, or about the same size as Saudi Arabia, Mexico or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.