US to close drone base in Ethiopia

New threats in Libya and other African nations seen as reason to expand elsewhere

The United States is pulling the plug on its drone operations in southern Ethiopia as demands on its fleet of unmanned aircraft expand elsewhere across the continent with the rise of Daesh in Libya, and extremist militants in Nigeria, Mali, Chad and Cameroon.

Since 2011 the US had been using the airbase in Arba Minch, 250 miles south of the capital, to launch surveillance drones aimed at groups in East Africa with links to Al Qaida. US personnel primarily focused on Al Shabab, a Somali group which has waged deadly terrorist attacks across East Africa.

Pentagon officials remained tight-lipped on Monday about the reasons behind the move. Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a Defence Department spokeswoman, said the US and Ethiopia agreed that the continued presence of the drone base was “not required at this time.”

Daesh influence

Some experts say the fight against Al Shabab was going well enough that the Pentagon’s Africa Command, or Africom, had the opportunity to redistribute its scarce resources elsewhere.

“Al Shabab remains virulent, but as a significant terrorist threat with high profile leaders in range for drone attacks, much less so,” said Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre.

Other groups, by contrast, are rapidly gaining strength — and presenting far more tempting targets for the Pentagon and its drone operators.

In recent months, Daesh has consolidated its power in Libya, allowing it to easily move into the port city of Sirte, and now control an estimated 150 miles of territory along the country’s Mediterranean coast. Its presence has reportedly forced the US to focus on gathering intelligence there in order to better monitor militant movements in North Africa.

The continued strength of Boko Haram — the extremist group terrorising northeastern Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger — has also forced Washington to dedicate more resources in the Lake Chad region as well.

Since 2009, Boko Haram has killed more than 10,000 people and by last year the group controlled an area the size of Belgium. After the militants were forced out of some of their Nigerian strongholds by a multinational African task force last spring, they switched to more asymmetrical tactics and increased suicide bombings and cross border raids. In September, President Barack Obama pledged $45 million to help countries in the Lake Chad region beat back the group. And in October, the US sent a fleet of surveillance drones and 300 troops to Cameroon.

Those pressures have forced Africom to re-evaluate where it allocates resources, say experts.