A Russian force entered the base where US Air Force troops are stationed in the West African country of Niger, a senior official at the US Department of Defense reported to Reuters. The incident took place yesterday (Friday), after the military junta that took over the country with Russian backing informed the Americans that they were no longer welcome there, and demanded that they remove the 1,000 US soldiers from the West African country.
“The USA and France are defeated by Russia in West Africa and they are forced to leave the Sahel countries,” he explains to ‘Davar’ Dr. Moshe Tardiman, an expert on Africa. The Sahel is a region south of the Sahara desert, which stretches from East Africa to the West. “The withdrawal of American and French forces from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso and even a partial withdrawal of American forces from Chad affects the entire global balance of power.”
The Sahel region is marked on the map of Africa (Design: Wikipedia)
The entry of Russian forces into Niger: “They are in a separate compound at the base”
US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, confirmed last night that Russian forces were deployed at the same air base where American forces are stationed in Benjamin, the capital of Niger. In a press conference he held in Honolulu, he explained that the Russian forces “don’t have access to US forces or our equipment.”
It is not clear when the Russian soldiers, who have been in Niger for several weeks, were deployed at Base 101, which is located near the international airport ‘Dori Amani’ in Niamey. It is also not known how many soldiers are involved.
Austin added that “Base 101 where our forces are stationed, is a base of the Niger Air Force located in the compound of the international airport in the capital. The Russians are in a separate compound.”
In response to reports of the deployment of Russian forces in Niger, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow yesterday that Russia is “developing ties with various African countries in all areas, including military and security issues.”
A satellite view of Base 101 in Niamey, Niger (Photo: Planet Labs Inc./Handout via REUTERS)
Russia’s strengthening in the region: emphasizes the damage of colonialism, plans a military coup
The US and its allies were forced to withdraw their forces from a number of African countries following a series of coups in which military juntas linked to Russia and opposed to Western governments came to power. Alongside the preparations for the withdrawal of forces from Niger, US military forces also left Chad in recent days, while French troops were expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso.
At the same time, Russia is strengthening its ties with countries in West Africa, while emphasizing the damage caused by Western countries in the region during the colonial era. Mali, for example, which has remained in strong ties with France since France took over it at the end of the 19th century, and even after gaining independence in 1960, has in recent years become one of Russia’s closest African allies.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop at a meeting in Moscow in February 2024 (Photo: MAXIM SHIPENKOV/Pool via REUTERS)
Mali’s rapprochement with Russia began with the assistance of the Russian mercenary army from the Wagner group in the fight against jihadist rebels, and continued with a military coup directed by Wagner’s forces, which in the meantime were annexed to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The French army that had been in the country for decades was expelled from it in disgrace, in a move that harmed, among other things, the economic interests of France, which imported raw materials from Mali.
Changes in the American strategy: getting closer to the countries in the Gulf of Guinea, such as the Ivory Coast
The coups in the Sahel countries led to a redeployment of American forces in West Africa. This week, the French news agency AFP reported that the US inaugurated a new base in Ivory Coast, a move that angered its neighbor Burkina Faso. The head of the military regime in Burkina Faso, General Ibrahim Traore, accused the Ivory Coast government of “bringing in destabilizing elements”.
At the same time, the news website Atlas News reported on the tightening of military ties between the US and Benin. This week, the United States government donated four fuel trucks, spare parts and other items, worth more than 2 million dollars, to the Benin army, as part of the “continuous effort of the United States strengthen its relations with the West African nation.”
Moshe Tardiman. “Meta-strategic changes in the deployment of American forces in Africa” (photo: private album)
“As a result of the strengthening of the Sahel countries’ military ties with Russia and the deployment of Russian forces in these countries (with the exception of Chad), the United States and its allies shifted their weight to the defense of the countries of the Gulf of Guinea, with an emphasis on Benin, Togo, Ghana and the Ivory Coast,” explains Terdiman, “The activity there includes a fight against jihadists, and an attempt to block Russian infiltration into them. As part of this, the US is establishing a military base in the Ivory Coast, and in Benin a containment battle is underway against the Russian intrusion into the country.”
Terdiman points out that the countries from which the Western forces depart are mainly located in the Sahel region, and the countries where they are trying to tighten their grip border the Sahel countries, and are located on the Atlantic coast. According to Tardiman, “these are meta-strategic changes in the deployment of American forces in Africa.”
Tardiman adds that these events are taking place against the background of Russia’s success in establishing its influence and presence in Eritrea, part of Sudan, eastern Libya and the Central African Republic, and starting to try to penetrate other countries in French-speaking Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the same time, a struggle for influence is also developing in Africa between Russia and Ukraine.
“Russia and Ukraine are supporting the forces fighting each other in the civil war in Sudan,” explains Tardiman, “In April of this year, Ukraine opened new embassies in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Rwanda, Botswana, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It already had embassies in Algeria, In Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal and Tunisia. In addition to all these, it intends to open additional embassies soon in Sudan, Tanzania, Mauritania and Cameroon.”
