DATE Africa Non-State Threat Actors and Conditions

DATE Africa > DATE Africa Non-State Threat Actors and Conditions ←You are here

Significant Non-State Threat Actors and Conditions

Significant Non-State Threat Actors and Conditions in the OE, 2025

Group Name	Type	Country	Description
Amarian People’s Union (APU)	Insurgency	Amari	The Amarian People’s Union (APU) is the militant wing of the Amarian People’s Party (APP). The APU has openly espoused violent actions when political desired are unfulfilled. The APU’s members are predominantly hostile and would likely support enemies of Amari. The APU is responsible for numerous attacks against government facilities and military or police forces. They have also targeted Amari civilians whom they identify as “non-loyal.” The most common attacks include government posts or personnel, machines and power facilities, and civilian crops.
Army of Justice and Purity (AJP)	Guerrilla	Kujenga	Army of Justice and Purity (AJP) is a rebel group and heterodox Christian cult which operates in southern Kujenga and its surrounding countries. Originally known as the Truth Revival Movement and the Kujengan True Faith and Allegiance Army, its stated goals include establishment of multi-party democracy, distinct from Kujenga. Their leadership council has publicly expressed their goal of ruling according to their strict, non-traditional interpretations of selected portions of the Christian Bible, mixed with a heavy dose of anti-colonial rhetoric. While it is structured and functions like a military unit, members exhibit a cult-like reverence for its mysterious leader, "Messiah" Tomas Asari-Dokubo.
Civil Militias	Militia	Nyumba	Nyumban civil militia groups operate and thrive in conditions of state disintegration in areas with little or no state control. Many of the roving gangs will be younger, but groups of older men and possibly women may arm themselves to respond to threats. Civil militia groups are often organized along very narrow political lines, religious intolerance, and ethnic exclusion. The emergence of civil militia-controlled areas has created problems for border enforcement and the lucrative mining and tourism sectors.
Donya Syndicate	Criminal	Kujenga	The Donya Syndicate is the largest and most powerful cocaine trafficking organization in the region. Its primary operating base is in and around the Port of Dar es Salaam, although it operates processing and distribution nodes throughout Kujenga. Donya is the most stable and sophisticated of the groups to emerge from the drug turmoil of the 1990s – both within Africa and among central and South American suppliers.
Free Tanga Youth Movement (FTYM)	Insurgency	Kujenga	The Free Tanga Youth Movement (FTYM) is a separatist insurgency operating almost exclusively in the Tanga region of northeastern Kujenga. The historic occupants of the region have resisted their inclusion in Kujenga and have repeatedly petitioned the government to allow ceding their ancestral homeland to be with Lou Tribe kin to the north in Amari. The FTYM has claimed responsibility for numerous small attacks against government personnel and facilities in within Tanga and as far as Dar es Salaam. FTYM elements have been blamed for attacks on both regional and international peacekeepers. The FTYM can be extremely volatile and will be hostile to anyone they perceive as supporting Kujengan interest over theirs.
Hizbul al-Harakat	Violent Extremist	Nyumba	Hizbul al-Harakat, more commonly known as al-Harakat is a jihadist fundamentalist group based in central East Africa. Its leadership had previously pledged itself to the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, but quarrels and interpersonal conflicts led to al-Harakat distancing itself from the group. Since then, the group has withdrawn from the major cities, controlling a few rural in the rough maintains of western Nyumba. The group describes its purpose as waging jihad against "enemies of Islam."
Hodari Cartel	Criminal	Amari	The Hodari Cartel is the largest and most powerful heroin trafficking organization in the region. Its primary operating base is in and around the Port of Mombasa, although it operates processing and distribution nodes throughout Amari. Limited, tense cooperation among other regional drug trafficking organizations may exist to minimize public or political backlash.
Islamic Front in the Heart Africa (AFITHA)	Violent Extremist	-Multiple	AFITHA is an Islamist militant organization which aims to overthrow the Amari government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an anti-government campaign. As an affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), it aligns its movement with AQIM’s broader goals to institute shariah (Islamic law) in all its areas of operation, although its operations in the region have been more practical than its northern component. Its operations in Amari, Ziwa, and northern Kujenga appear to be more focused on ridding the region of "Western impurities" than solely religious ideology.
Kujengan Bush Militias	Militia	Kujenga	The Udzungwa mountain range of central [Kujenga] is home to a number of violent gangs and militias. The most prominent are the Waaminifu Boys and the Antivurugu Militia. These groups often align themselves with an ethnic group or religious ideology, but their actions often betray this alignment. Bush militia groups are consistently involved in vicious territorial fights with little regard for the safety of local Kujengans. Constant fighting makes travel through the area dangerous–particularly at night. Bush militia groups and affiliated gangs routinely engage in banditry, raids, poaching, kidnapping, and drug trafficking and smuggling to sustain themselves.
Mara-Suswa Rebel Army (MSRA)	Militia	Amari	The Mara-Suswa Rebel Army (MSRA) is an aggregate of multiple rebel groups and militias in central Amari, west of Nairobi. The group is allegedly responsible for widespread violence and harassment throughout the region. They have also conducted attacks against tourists and villages in Kujenga and Ziwa. This group is known for brutality and has taken responsibility for attacks on tourists and traffic along secondary roads. Territorial fighting between rival factions has made travel in remote rural areas almost impossible - particularly at night, where sustained gunfire is a nightly occurrence.
Pemba Island Native Army (PINA)	Insurgency	Amari	The Pemba Island Native Army (PINA) is a low-level nativist insurgency, fighting for increased autonomy and relief from alleged Amarian oppression. Low-level violence and vandalism has been directed against Amari officials and BGC units tasked with providing security on the island. While PINA is largely bluster, radical elements break out and have attacked state forces and anyone they deem an “outsider.” The most violent acts usually follow pressing of Amari policies and BGC patrols.
Tajammu Militias	Militia	Nyumba	The Tajammu is a violent militia comprised of Nyumban Arab tribes and disaffected camel herding tribes of the Nyumban northern region. They are currently in conflict with Nyumban civil militias in central Nyumba and Hizbul al-Harakat elements in the Nyumban western region. They have been one of the main drivers of violence throughout the region.
Union of Peace for the Ziwa (UPZ)	Insurgency	Ziwa	Large pockets of these former regime loyalists and disaffected persons have developed into regions in which Ziwan government forces are consistently harassed and even attacked. UPZ forces have been blamed for and/or taken credit for attacks on tourists and government anti-poaching patrols in the Serengeti and northwestern regions. The most brutal violence occurred in the south, in which UPZ forces claimed responsibility for atrocities against mining operations with ties to the government.
Watasi Gang	Militia	Ziwa	The Watasi Gang is an extremely violent militia group operating in Ziwa's mountainous northeastern region. They have also been known to operate across the border in Amari as part of the Mara-Suswa Rebel Army. Watasi Gang members also routinely engage in banditry, raids, poaching, kidnapping, and drug trafficking or smuggling.

Miscellaneous Conditions

Illicit Mining Operations

Main article: Illicit Mining Operations

Illegal mining operations are not normally associated with having an impact on military operations, but US and coalition forces may be deployed in support of peacekeeping or stability operations in areas where they could come into direct conflict with multiple hybrid threat actors operating directly or indirectly in support of illegal mines and smuggling. The mere presence of external forces could be viewed by these actors as a threat to their illegal operations or territorial claims and lead to increased violence.

"Mtangazajiland"

Mtangazajiland area

The upper northwestern area of Amari, nicknamed "Mtangazajiland”" – land of the wanderers, is a de facto homeland for former child soldiers. Many of the villages were developed by Amari government programs, while some developed organically as populations swelled. The people in the villages are mostly single men between 16 and 40 years old that escaped forced service with militias and other forces in Nyumba, although some have started families.

There are approximately 15-20 villages in the area, with a few in decline and a few splinters from other villages. The Amari Interior Ministry provides partial support to many of the villages to help rehabilitate the men and prevent potential conflict from migrating elsewhere. Villagers are predominantly friendly towards Amari officials, but are suspicious of outsiders.

Cross-border militia raids from Nyumba against the villages occur with some frequency and can be extremely brutal. The level of villager participation in illicit trafficking, interdiction of commercial traffic, or raids on other villages or refugee settlements to supplement state stipends is not known.

Amari military forces regularly allocate resources and provide assistance and monitoring of the villages to ensure their ongoing stability and rehabilitation. These former child soldiers likely maintain numerous small arms. The amounts and types or larger weapons and organization levels is unknown. The villages may present a buffering effect in the northwest, allowing the military and BGC to be more effective in this somewhat wild region.