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US to depart final base in Niger, nearly ending withdrawal
Once an emblem of the two countries' security ties, Air Base 201 will be vacated by Monday, according to two U.S. officials.
Promotion delayed for Army colonel involved in Niger ambush
An investigation following the Niger ambush was criticized for pushing much of the blame onto lower ranking officers.
By Kyle Rempfer
US loses drone over Niger
AFRICOM confirmed it lost a drone in Niger, after pictures of the alleged U.S. drone crash were making the rounds on social media Monday.
Expect Congress to block Africa troop cuts, says defense panel chairman
The upcoming 2021 defense policy bill will likely restrict the Pentagon from reducing its footprint in Africa, says the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
By Joe Gould
Al-Qaida, ISIS affiliates team up in West Africa, says US Special Operations Command Africa leader
The only place in the world where fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are cooperating is in West Africa’s sprawling Sahel region, giving the extremists greater depth as they push into new areas, according to the commander of the U.S. military’s special forces in Africa.
Special operations forces kick off international exercise in the Sahel, the ‘tinderbox of terrorist activity’
The U.S. and 30 other countries will have an opportunity to hone their intelligence-sharing skills at Flintlock, an annual military exercise that gets underway Feb. 17.
By Diana Stancy
With limited resources, US military shifts strategy from degrading militants in West Africa to containment
Resources for the thinly spread American troops across U.S. Africa Command may be further constrained should the Pentagon decide to curtail the counterterror mission in the region following a defense-wide posture review that is still pending.
By Shawn Snow
West African leaders warn it would be a ‘mistake’ to cut back US troops in Africa
U.S. Africa Command says that there are approximately 6,000 Department of Defense personnel in Africa, but those numbers could go down following a review the Pentagon is executing to reexamine U.S. troop presence in multiple areas of operations.
By Diana Stancy
Armed drones to fly out of Niger air base now operational after delayed completion
U.S. Africa Command announced Friday that intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations are now being conducted out of the base in Agadez, Niger, which is designed to house armed drones and other aircraft that have historically operated out of Niger’s capital, Niamey.
By Diana Stancy
Competing and winning in Africa, a vast theater of opportunity
U.S. investment and its small U.S. defense footprint is making a difference in Africa, but the field is changing and competition is fierce.
By Col. Chris Karns
US offering $5 million bounty for attackers responsible for deadly Niger ambush that killed 4 soldiers
The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is also offering a $5 million reward for information or location of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the ISIS offshoot known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
By Shawn Snow