Military junta moves to ‘push out’ the US

MOSCOW is vying for greater influence in Niger as the military junta moves to push out the US, amid Russia’s latest swoop in the region and as the West’s military presence thins.

The Niger military announced at the weekend it was breaking off an agreement with the US “with immediate effect”, although the consequences remain unclear.

Niger had been a frontline partner of the West in the fight against jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa. But like military-run neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has pursued relations with Russia since the junta seized power.

The July 2023 ousting of elected president Mohamed Bazoum by the military has already forced French troops to leave and Paris to drastically rethink its strategy for the region.

“Russia has been working to facilitate a closer military relationship with Niger since the coup,” US Naval War College professor Christopher Faulkner said.

“I anticipate some type of deal is on the horizon,” Faulkner said.

Moscow’s move “illustrates the value Moscow is placing on its influence in Africa”, he added.

Several foreign sources, who asked not to be named, said there was no unanimity within the junta about an alliance with Moscow.

But Niger’s foreign policy has been shifting away from Western allies since the junta’s decision to cut off cooperation with France.

The last French soldiers left the country in December, but some 1000 US troops remain, manning a $100 million desert drone base in northern Niger.

Then last month, Niamey issued a decree declaring military expenditure would no longer be subject to oversight.

“This enhances their opportunity to conduct deals with Russia that become harder to track and empowers the junta” by reducing transparency around defence spending, said Faulkner.

Breaking off co-operation with the US and ending controls on military spending were “preconditions for a forthcoming agreement” between Niger and Russia, a European military source, who asked not to be named, said.

Niger’s shift towards Moscow is part of a significant trend of former French colonies in Africa distancing themselves from the West and international bodies.

Rather than deploying regular troops, Moscow has gained influence through the dispatch of mercenaries from the Wagner mercenary group, which has unofficially served the Kremlin’s aims in Africa since the 2010s.

Rebranded Africa Corps and reorganised following the August 2023 death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in a mysterious plane crash, the group is now under the Kremlin’s umbrella, signalling a formal acknowledgement of Russia’s role in the Sahel.

Russians are already deployed in Mali, following an agreement between the military regime in Bamako and the Wagner group.

And neighbouring Burkina Faso recently acknowledged Russian support in “logistics and tactical training”.

Meanwhile, images were shared on social media of large queues of masked Russians – widely believed to be mercenaries – queueing outside the Russian embassy in the Central African Republic capital of Bangui to vote in Russia’s presidential elections last weekend.

“Russia’s first phase of influence in Africa was not openly acknowledged,” Lou Osborn of the observer group All Eyes on Wagner said.

The US is concerned about Niger’s growing relationship with Russia, especially because a withdrawal of its own troops would mean leaving critical military installations to the Russians.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that even now US officials were seeking closed-door talks to determine if the US “can retain some sort of security presence in the country”. |