“Possible cuts to the US military’s footprint in Africa, where the US has roughly 5,000 troops, are part of the Defense Department’s recent review worldwide,” US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said.
SETH J. FRANTZMAN
The Franco-American alliance is increasingly concerned about terror threats from Africa, but they don’t agree on how to fight the enemy. France says it will send 600 more troops to fight Islamists in the Sahel according to French Defense Minister Florence Parly.
Parly has critiqued the US in the past in the Gulf noting that lack of US response to Iran’s threats in November. Meanwhile, the US is weighing reductions in forces in Africa.
According to an article at Foreign Policy on January 28 US Defense Secretary Mark Esper is considering reducing US forces in Africa while Pentagon and State Department officials are concerned about possible ramifications.
“Possible cuts to the US military’s footprint in Africa, where the US has roughly 5,000 troops, are part of the Defense Department’s recent review worldwide,” Esper said.
In 2017 an ISIS affiliate killed US special forces in Niger revealing the size of a war that largely takes place in the shadows.
France is leading operations along with G5 Sahel Forces from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. There are 4,500 French troops. On January 8 at least twenty-five local soldiers were reported killed in Niger in a terror attack and in early December 71 Niger soldiers were reported killed. On January 22 dozens were reported killed in Burkina Faso.
People are mourning across West Africa for the depredations of various groups linked to ISIS and other Islamic terrorist forces. The UN calls the attacks unprecedented.
The UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel has said that the numbers murdered in 2019 reached 4,000 compared to less than 1,000 in 2016. In Burkina Faso the numbers have jumped from 80 deaths in terror to 1,800.
“The geographic focus of terrorist attacks has shifted eastwards from Mali to Burkina Faso and is increasingly threatening West Africa coastal states,” said the UN Office.
The US had been increasing its role in Africa over the last decade. But sudden discussions about a shift of forces to Asia or other areas has left many wondering what comes next. The conflicts in the Sahel affect wider region and can destabilize countries far-away such as Somalia, Libya, Senegal or even into the Middle East.
These areas may be sponging up jihadists from around the world soon. US AFRICOM commander Stephen Townsend has warned about any sudden change in support of France or local countries. Even if US forces do shift it seems they will move from the hotspots like dealing with borders of Mali or Somalia to being based in Djibouti.
The enemy is watching. The US has launched a security review after an attack on a Kenyan military outpost left three US soldiers dead.
“We were not as prepared there at Manda Bay as we needed to be,” Townsend said according to a report. “Al-Shabab managed to penetrate onto that airfield.”
Six aircraft were destroyed on January 5. Now the attack on Manda Bay may be seen as a warning. The US is concerned about the growing ability of these organizations like Al-Shabab or ISIS and Al-Qaeda or Boko Haram that stretch across 6,500 km from the Kenya-Somalia border all the way to Senegal.
Major changes are afoot in Africa across this swath of territory, across borders that are often not well guarded and into ungoverned spaces where jihadist groups thrive.
Some media accounts portray these various conflicts as tribal battles between “herders” and “farmers” preferring to look at local or economic conditions to the wider extremist influences that are driving tactics and strategy of organizations or even inspiring attacks.
The US and France must now decide on whether they will continue a holistic strategy, or segment the continent into spheres of counter-terror influence as the US seeks to move towards confronting large states such as China and disabuse itself of counter-terror strategy.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/International/600-French-soldiers-to-fight-terror-in-Africa-as-US-ponders-leaving-616227?fbclid=IwAR3LRNrmJvsngX-mCrvCht8q60R16mNwijRgi-5w1y_Z0PX2dKSvtvlDIAo.