The U.S. has planned to urgently deploy UAVs in three African countries
Coups in central Africa have hindered U.S. efforts to combat terrorist groups, the Pentagon is urgently looking for airfields in coastal countries to deploy reconnaissance UAVs and repel attacks.
The U.S. is seeking to urgently deploy military drones in countries along the Atlantic coast in western Africa to stop the spread of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (both organizations are recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia), the Wall Street Journal writes, citing sources.
The U.S. military is considering using airfields in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin, which were threatened with the infiltration of militants from Mali, Burkina Faso and the Niger. In the last three countries, about 41,000 people have died as a result of terrorist violence, according to the estimates quoted by the WSJ.
Drones will not be equipped with weapons, their task will be to monitor the movement of militants along the coast, which will allow the local armed forces to give tactical recommendations in combat operations.
The WSJ notes that these measures are a sign of a reduction in the U.S. military presence in the region, as previously American troops, together with French forces, maintained security in the Central African states. The situation was complicated by a series of military coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, as a result of which French troops were ordered to leave the territory.
The coups led to the adoption of laws in the United States restricting military security assistance to the juntas, which destroyed the strategy of deploying commandos to train local elite units.
The build-up of forces in coastal countries suggests that Washington considers Mali and Burkina Faso to be excessively flooded with militants, and the Niger, which was considered the most loyal ally in Africa before the July military coup, has lost its reliability, the newspaper points out.
"In fact, we have no choice but to retreat and act from the coastal West African states," said the former commander of the American Special Operations Forces in Africa, Major General of the Air Force, retired Mark Hicks.
