Major media outlets have reported on a significant change in the Sahel region, where a US base and Africom is no longer welcome in the nation of Niger. However, no one is really talking about the fact that the US will be withdrawing 1,000 troops from Niger. The US has a lot of infrastructure and intelligence in Niger. The AP notes that Niger plays a central role in the Sahel in West Africa, where Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists lurk while wreaking havoc across the region.
Niger is home to a significant U.S. airbase in the city of Agadez, where “manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations” take place. The US has invested millions in the base infrastructure and training of the Niger military. Russian military advisors have already arrived, according to French media.
Niger was long a linchpin in the US and French strategy to combat jihadists in West Africa. The United States built a base in the desert city of Agadez at the cost of $100 million to fly a fleet of drones.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March 2023 became the highest-ranking American ever to visit Niger, vowing economic support for one of the world’s poorest countries and seeking to bolster elected president Mohamed Bazoum, a stalwart Western ally.
But the military four months later sacked Bazoum and quickly kicked out troops from former colonial power France.
Unlike its anger toward France, the junta initially sounded an openness to maintaining its longtime defense relationship with the United States.
President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has refused to mute concerns, insisting on the return of civilian rule and the release of Bazoum.
Russian military instructors arrived in Niger this month with an air defense system and other equipment, state media said, after talks between military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
The Intercept notes that Matt Gaetz has accused the Biden administration of “actively suppressing intelligence reports” about the state of U.S. military relations with Niger, according to a new report issued by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. U.S. military service members told Gaetz’s office that they couldn’t get medicine, mail, or other support from the Pentagon”.
Gaetz makes scurrilous statements against American officials in Niger after US personnel told his office that soldiers reportedly told the committee that intelligence is being suppressed and they have been abandoned. If he has released a report, I haven’t located it.
Pentagon spokesperson Pete Nguyen told The Intercept that “sustainment” of U.S. personnel has continued through commercial means, and the Pentagon is in “discussions” with the junta “to approve clearances on our upcoming regularly scheduled flights.”
The US government has given up on Niger. The government formally announced this weekend that it had agreed to withdraw military personnel from the country, a move that will impact over 1,000 individuals.
The government was operating in country in connection with a twelve year old agreement that was in place with the Nigerian government, prior to a coup that occurred last year. Post-coup, the ruling class has sought closer tights with Russia, similar to neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso. Russia’s Africa Corp arrived in country last week, with the paramilitary group the replacement for the Wagner Group.
The departure will see the US government walk away from Base 201, which was constructed in 2018 at a cost of $110 million for the purpose of maintaining drones in the region, which were used to fight jihadist groups across the region. It also follows the very-public announcement made in March by the ruling military junta of Niger that indicated the US government was no longer welcome on Nigerian (sic) soil, despite the agreement that was in place.
My Bold.
So how did Russia sweet talk itself into what was once a nation friendly to the US?
Why did Niger, a country the United States considered a safe ally in Africa just last year, suddenly elect to kick the U.S. military out of the country following a coup? Russian disinformation efforts in the region played a huge role, according to Gen. Michael Langley, the head of U.S. Africa Command.
“The Russian Federation had their playbook. They had their passing game through their disinformation,” he told the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday. “That’s why I have asked for more capabilities in the State Department from their Global Engagement Center and also in our information operations in the military.”
One example of just how quick and aggressive Russian disinformation actors are in the region: last April, Russian mercenaries with the Wagner Group buried several bodies near a base French forces had just occupied—so the Russians could launch a social media campaign that blamed French forces.
“That’s how savvy they are,” Langley said. “We do need to engage with other countries to increase their partnership and capacity. We need to take the disinformation campaign, we need to hit it front and center,” he said.