US denies building military base in Ivory Coast as Nigerien forces withdraw

AFRICOM stresses that Washington has a “small presence” of troops in “partner countries” in West Africa

11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The US Army denied on Thursday that it was building a military base in the Ivory Coast, in the midst of the process of withdrawing its troops from Niger at the request of the military junta, although it stressed that it has “a small presence” of troops and personnel in “partner countries” in West Africa.

“The United States is not building a base in the Ivory Coast,” a spokesman for the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) told Europa Press, after the French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ reported that Yamoussoukro had given the ‘green light’ to the installation of a base near the town of Odienné, located in the northwest of the country, close to the borders with Guinea and Mali.

Although the Ivorian authorities have not commented on this information, the AFRICOM spokesperson has responded to it and stated that Washington “does not go into specific details regarding the movement of troops and personnel” and has confirmed that it has “a small presence of US personnel in partner countries in West Africa.”

“While we are in the process of withdrawing forces and assets from Niger, we remain focused on the growing terrorist threat in West Africa more broadly,” he said, stressing that “this is a shared and common threat to the peace and stability of our African partners and to the protection of the American homeland.”

In this regard, he argued that “where common threats are seen and recognised, there are areas where partnership and capabilities with African partners can be expanded.” “We also make sure to listen, learn and understand what their needs are in order to achieve a lasting solution to terrorism,” he said.

“The Department of Defense will continue to support whole-of-government efforts to address terrorist threats and broader instability in the Sahel, including engaging with regional partners to determine opportunities to expand partnerships to effectively address common interests,” it said.

He added that “senior US officials” have made several trips to West Africa, “which is facing the growing threat at its borders or across them,” with the aim of “listening” to what these countries need in order to “succeed” in the fight against terrorism.

“Pretty consistently, they say it’s a government position, and that’s where AFRICOM and our interagency partners will focus their efforts,” he said, adding that the mission “supports bilateral security arrangements to promote stability and security in the region and to strengthen relationships with partners,” in addition to conducting exercises and other “capacity-building” activities.

He reiterated that AFRICOM “will continue to support the efforts” of countries in the region to expand these ties and address “shared interests,” amid the growing threat of expansion of branches of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Sahel towards the Gulf of Guinea and other areas of West Africa.

NIGER WITHDRAWAL

AFRICOM itself confirmed on Monday the end of the process of withdrawing the military personnel it had deployed at an air base in Niger’s capital, Niamey, as part of a process opened at the request of the military junta installed in the African country after the coup d’état in July 2023, with a deadline of September 15.

Washington and Niamey confirmed the completion of the withdrawal of troops from Air Base 101 in a joint statement, following a process that began on May 19 with the signing of the agreement on the withdrawal process, which now focuses on the withdrawal of forces deployed at Air Base 201 in Agadez. Both parties thus reiterated their commitment to complete the process in a “safe, orderly and responsible” manner by September 15.

Military activity was already severely limited after the United States broke its cooperation agreements with Niger and halted, among other programs, the flight of drones, which are key to gathering intelligence and preparing attacks not only in Nigerien territory but also in other areas of the Sahel region.

The 2023 coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum and installed a military junta added Niger to a growing group of African regimes critical of Western presence on their lands and inclined instead to move closer to Russia, including deploying mercenaries from the Wagner Group, now known as the Africa Corps.

The about-face by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – which signed a treaty last weekend marking the birth of the so-called Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States – has sparked concern in France – a former colonial power – the United States and other Western countries due to the increase in Russian influence in this part of the continent, which countries such as Niger attribute to a national decision to seek new alliances to combat terrorism and stabilise the internal situation.

Added to this is the fact that the Sahel has become the epicentre of jihadist terrorism on a global level and that the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, the Al Qaeda affiliate) and the Islamic State Sahel (formerly the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara) have made efforts to expand their influence towards the Gulf of Guinea.

In recent years, there has been an increase in attacks in the territories of Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana, which has led the authorities in these countries to try to strengthen security, a situation in which Washington hopes to forge new alliances to maintain its influence in this part of the continent.