Actualité militaire au Niger

[malikos]

Tahoua : des armes saisies dans un bus de transport
18 août 2019 DIM
À la barrière de la route de Tahoua, un colis a été découvert dans un bus RTV immatriculé AB 0625 provenant de Madaoua en partance sur Tahoua.
Ledit colis contient deux armes dont une Ak47 et une Tokarev. À celles-ci s’ajoutent 236 cartouches G3 et 100 munitions Ak47. Le colis est un envoi de Madaoua à Tahoua.
Aïr Info a appris que l’expéditeur de Madaoua est un agent de police. Il s’agit du Bpx I. O en service à la Direction de la Police de Madaoua. L’intéressé, interpellé se trouve actuellement dans les locaux de la Direction de la Police de Madaoua.
Quant au destinataire, il se nomme I. H et est domicilié à Tahoua.
Aux dernières nouvelles, des recherches concernant le destinataire du colis sont en cours à Tahoua.
Nous y reviendrons !

Ibrahim Manzo Diallo

https://airinfoagadez.com/2019/08/18/ta ... transport/

[malikos]

New AFRICOM chief in Niger to assess security in volatile western Africa

U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command, exchanges gifts with Djiboutian military officials during a visit to Djibouti Aug. 8, 2019. Townsend is currently visiting western African countries, including Niger, to assess security in the region.

U.S. AFRICA COMMAND

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By JOHN VANDIVER | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: September 19, 2019

STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. Africa Command’s Gen. Stephen Townsend met with American troops in Niger on Thursday during a visit to assess security in the West Africa region, which is grappling to counter several Islamic militant groups.

Townsend’s visit to Niger, his first since he took over as head of AFRICOM in July, came in the midst of a 90-day review ordered by Defense Secretary Mark Esper into whether the U.S. should hold force levels on the African continent steady or make additional cuts.

U.S. troops are training with their Nigerien counterparts in a country that has proven dangerous but remains central to the military’s strategy in the region.

“Niger has been a willing and engaged partner in the fight against violent extremist organizations,” Townsend said. “Niger is committed to building its defense capacity and containing and degrading terrorist networks in Africa.”

An ambush in which militants killed four U.S. soldiers in October 2017 brought intense scrutiny to operations in the country and raised questions about the purpose of the American mission. While the U.S. has scaled back some of its operations and shifted more of its focus to higher level unit training rather than joint combat patrols in Niger, there are still risks. In June, American troops escaped serious injury when the U.S. military vehicle they were traveling in hit a roadside bomb.

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Despite the dangers, the U.S. appears committed to keeping forces in Niger for the long haul.

In August, the U.S. Air Force began flying surveillance aircraft out of a new base in central Niger that has been years in the making. Known as Nigerien Air Base 201 in Agadez, the site is expected to improve intelligence gathering in the region.

AFRICOM has said operations there will expand over time.

“Nigerien Air Base 201 will ultimately possess an ability to support an array of aircraft and missions to include added ISR options,” AFRICOM said in a statement, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. The capabilities that the base eventually will have “will benefit the entire region,” Townsend said.

Townsend’s visit, which included meetings with senior Nigerien defense officials and the country’s president, Mahamadou Issoufou, was part of a tour through the region. Earlier in the week, he held talks with officials in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.

Numerous extremist groups, including Nigeria-based Boko Haram, have brought instability to West Africa, including the Lake Chad basin region, which includes parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

ISIS-West Africa has also become a top security concern for AFRICOM since it broke away from Boko Haram three years ago. That group routinely launches cross-border attacks in Niger.

While extremist groups in West Africa don’t pose a direct threat to the U.S. homeland now, military officials worry they could, if left unchecked.

Ambassador Eric P. Whitaker said the U.S. will continue to train and equip Nigerien forces to counter regional threats.

“Our goal is to enable Niger’s defense and security forces to develop and sustain a professional force and contribute to peacekeeping efforts,” Whitaker said.

vandiver.john@stripes.com
Twitter: @john_vandiver

https://www.stripes.com/news/new-africo ... a-1.599574

[malikos]

https://thedefensepost.com/2019/10/17/g ... er-madama/

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Niger troops display seized weapons Niger troops attached to the G5 Sahel Joint Force display weapons uncovered in a cave on Ocotber 3 during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
Home/Africa/G5 Sahel Joint Force makes ‘major’ weapons seizure in northern Niger
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G5 Sahel Joint Force makes ‘major’ weapons seizure in northern Niger
The 10-day operation carried out by a Nigerien battalion was supported by Operation Barkhane
Fergus Kelly FERGUS KELLY OCTOBER 17, 2019 4 MINUTES READ
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The G5 Sahel Joint Force (FCG5S) said Nigerien troops had made a “major arms seizure” during a 10-day military operation in northern Niger.

The counter-terrorism mission was carried out by soldiers from the Madama Battalion in Niger in the eastern zone of operations in the Niger-Chad border area between October 1 and 10, the force said in a release posted on Facebook on Thursday, October 17.

Madama is in the far north of Niger, near the borders with Chad and Libya.

Weapons cache cave Niger
A cave where a weapons cache was uncovered on October 3 by Niger troops attached to the G5 Sahel Joint Force during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
During a patrol on October 3, troops “discovered a large cache of weapons in a cave,” and items recovered included “assault rifles, handguns, anti-tank rockets, grenades and several crates of small-calibre ammunition, as well as observation equipment.”

The weapons include a PK machine gun, an RPG-7 rocket propelled grenade launcher and rockets, various AK assault rifle variants and possibly an M1 rifle, according to weapons identification specialist Calibre Obscura.

The following morning, a “suspicious” Toyota Hilux 4×4 vehicle “coming from Libya” with five people on board was “apprehended by a patrol” 3 km from a Joint Force Battalion security post.

A search of the vehicle uncovered rifles with laser sights and ammunition, and the five men were detained.

Weapons discovered by Niger troops
Weapons discovered after a search of a vehicle on October 4 by Niger troops attached to the G5 Sahel Joint Force during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
Calibre Obscura identified the weapons as a FN FAL rifle and two Romanian PSL marksman rifles.

Air support during the 10-day operation was provided by the Niger Air Force and the France-led Operation Barkhane force. Aircraft from both forces provided transport and reconnaissance support. A parachute drop of combat food rations for ground troops was also carried out.

NNiger troops receive airdropped supplies
Niger troops attached to the G5 Sahel Joint Force receive supplies during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
Aircraft drops supplies to Niger troops
An aircraft drops supplies to Niger troops attached to the G5 Sahel Joint Force during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
An image released by the FCG5S appeared to show an airdrop from a French C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, although Niger’s air force also operates the type. Barkhane last year used C-130s in airborne operations in Mali’s Ménaka region near the Niger border.

France maintains a military base near the airport in Niger’s capital Niamey airport and another at Madama in the north.

The French Armed Forces Ministry has not yet confirmed the role of Barkhane forces in the operation, but said that between October 3 and 10, aircraft carried out 98 missions, including 26 supply/ISR sorties and 44 transport missions.

Update October 17 The French Armed Forces Ministry said the Barkhane force supported the preliminary phase of the operation with airdrops, and also conducted two ISR flights.

Another image released by the FCG5S showed a Niger Air Force Cessna C-208 Caravan on the ground. In 2015, the United States supplied Niger with two C-208 aircraft with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability. It has also supplied military vehicles, boats, communications equipment and other materiel, as well as training. In February this year, the U.S. handed over over a $16.5 million communications and operations center to Niger’s army to help in the battle against Boko Haram.

Niger Air Force C-208 supports G5 Sahel Joint Force
A Niger Air Force C-208 aircraft supports the G5 Sahel Joint Force during Operation Amane 2 between October 1 and 10, 2019. Image: Force Conjointe G5 Sahel/Facebook
G5 Sahel Joint Force
The FCG5S operation was the first since the end of July, when Niger’s General Oumarou Namata Gazama took command of the G5 Sahel Joint Force – a move seen by European supporters of the initiative as a welcome sign of change, according to a western diplomat.

Gazama was among politicians and military commanders who met the new Commander of U.S. Africa Command General Stephen Townsend during his first trip as commander to the Sahel in September.

It was also the first G5 Sahel Joint Force operation since a Malian battalion under G5 Sahel command lost at least 40 men in an attack in Boulkessi near central Mali’s border with Burkina Faso on September 30 and October 1, according to an official, but still provisional, toll.

Launched in 2017, the G5 Sahel Joint Force is long-planned 4,500-strong joint counter-terrorism force comprises troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania.

France spearheaded the G5 Sahel initiative, but it has been undermined by lack of training, poor equipment and a shortage of funds. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres has long-called for regular U.N. funding for the G5 Sahel Joint Force, but the U.S. has pushed back against direct funding, preferring instead bilateral funding for individual states.

At full operating capacity, the G5 Sahel force will have seven battalions spread over three border zones, each covering a strip 50 km (30 miles) wide on both sides of the border. It is also expected that a counter-terrorism brigade will be deployed in northern Mali.

Despite international pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support, funds have been slow to arrive, although in July the European Union announced €138 million in additional funding for the G5 Sahel Joint Force. The bloc had previously given a total of €115.6 million and said in July 2018 that the E.U. would finance the construction of a new headquarters in Mali.

The bloc also funds the European Union Training Mission in Mali, which has a mandate until May 2020. Troops from 22 member states and five non-E.U. states work with both the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and the G5 Sahel Joint Force. It has trained around 13,000 FAMa personnel.

Insurgency in the Sahel
One of the world’s poorest countries, Niger faces insurgency on several fronts, including in the southeastern Diffa region near Lake Chad, which is increasingly frequently hit by Islamic State West Africa Province fighters whose insurgency began in Nigeria. Militants based in Mali, including al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters, are active in the west of the country and the wider Sahel.

France’s earlier Serval mission in Mali evolved into Operation Barkhane, which has a mandate for counter-terrorism operations across the Sahel. Roughly 4,500 French troops are deployed in the region. Personnel from Estonia and helicopters from the United Kingdom support the Barkhane force, and Denmark has announced plans send two helicopters and up to 70 troops.

Barkhane focuses activity in insurgent-hit Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and troops work alongside other international operations, including the roughly 14,000-strong MINUSMA United Nations stabilization mission in Mali, and FCG5S.

France has begun asking its European partners to send special forces to the Sahel region to assist and improve the basic training for local forces. France is hoping to form a new Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force under French command.

At a meeting this autumn, the U.S. is expected to seek additional contributions from the Global Coalition Against ISIS to combat the group and its affiliates in Africa.

[malikos]

Niger fighting: Tens of thousands flee violence
The UN warns that a crisis in the Sahel region including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso is reaching unprecedented levels.

by Laura Burdon-Manley
22 Sept 2019

MORE ON AFRICA


Intense fighting in Niger has displaced around 70,000 people.

The village of Inates in the Tillaberi region has become a ghost town after people fled fighting between ISIL and the Niger armed forces.

With the violence in the area and landmines in their village, it is not clear when it will be safe to return.

Al Jazeera's Laura Burdon-Manley reports.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/ ... 01094.html

[malikos]

and that was 1991...sad story, but one can draw paralles to the worseing situation today...

Security = Zero

Women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from PTSD. Studies are underway to find out why.
By Marlene Cimons
Oct. 19, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. GMT+2
In 1991, Karestan Koenen was a recent college graduate and Peace Corps volunteer who arrived in a village in Niger eager to help local women start small businesses. When her sister came to visit during Christmas, the two decided to travel north to Agadez, a city in the Sahara.

There, on the morning of Dec. 27, two male traders stopped by, trying to sell them jewelry. Koenen’s sister went to the market with one of men to have a look. While she was gone, the second man grabbed Koenen, held her down and raped her.

Traumatized by the experience, Koenen was medically evacuated to the United States two days later and resigned from the Peace Corps. She returned to New Jersey to live with her parents, but the assault continued to haunt her. Increasingly, she became depressed.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/w ... story.html

[malikos]

Douze soldats nigériens ont été tués et huit blessés lors de l’attaque de la base militaire de Blabrine, dans le sud-est du Niger, dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi a annoncé mercredi soir le ministère nigérien de la Défense.

« La position militaire Blabrine, dans la région de Diffa, a été attaquée par des éléments armés non encore identifiés appartenant très probablement au groupe terroriste Boko Haram.

Le bilan provisoire fait état de 12 militaires tués, 8 militaires blessés, selon le communiqué du ministère lu à la radio d’Etat. Selon une source sécuritaire, l’attaque a été menée par le groupe terroriste Boko Haram dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi contre le camp à l’est de N’Guigmi, dans la région de Diffa (sud-est), proche de la frontière entre le Niger et le Tchad.

Deux véhicules de l’armée nigérienne ont été détruits et six autres ont été emportés par les assaillants au cours de cette attaque, a ajouté cette source.

Selon les médias locaux, quatre des six véhicules emportés ont été récupérés, après de violents combats, dans la poursuite par les militaires nigériens qui ont réussi à repousser les assaillants. Ces victimes appartiennent à une base avancée de l’armée nigérienne proche du lac Tchad qui sert de repaire à la secte terroriste.

http://sahel-intelligence.com/17421-nig ... -pays.html

[malikos]

un peu part tout la absence de securitie.....

Gofat/ Tchirozérine : deux personnes grièvement blessées par balles
15 octobre 2019 DIM
Le dimanche dernier, des individus armés d’Ak 47 ont attaqué un véhicule voyageant entre Tchirozérine et Gofat.
Ils ont ouvert le feu sur le véhicule afin de l’immobiliser blessant grièvement deux personnes. Nous apprenons que les bandits n’ont rien emporté comme biens. Ils se sont enfuis sur leurs motos.

Il y’a quelques jours, à Aderbissinat, c’est un jeune qui fait du taxi moto qui a failli perdre la vie. Deux personnes ayant loué ses services l’ont attaqué à coup d’armes blanches à quelques kilomètres du chef-lieu de la commune.
Le laissant pour mort, avec plusieurs fractures aux membres, les assaillants sont partis avec sa moto et tout l’argent qu’il portait sur lui.

Les enquêteurs arrivés sur place ont pu mettre la main sur la carte d’identité tombée d’un des assaillants. Une carte établie il y a moins de deux semaines dans le consulat du Niger au Bénin.
Que cherchent alors ces personnes jusqu’à Aderbissinat ? Sont-elles venues en repérage ? Des questions que se posent les populations.

Avec ce qui se passe dans les autres régions, Diffa et Tillabéry, une vigilance s’impose tant au niveau des forces de sécurité que de la population.

La Rédaction

https://airinfoagadez.com/2019/10/15/go ... ar-balles/

[malikos]

ISR Ops Begin at Nigerien Air Base 201 in Agadez
In support of our partner forces and international efforts to counter violent extremist organizations in the region, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations have begun out of Nigerien Air Base 201, Agadez, Niger.
By U.S. AFRICA COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, United States Africa CommandStuttgart, GermanyNov 01, 2019
In support of our partner forces and international efforts to counter violent extremist organizations in the region, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations have begun out of Nigerien Air Base 201, Agadez, Niger.

This effort is in partnership with the Nigerien Government and reflects the commitment and desires of African partners as well as common interests for stability and security in the region.

“The U.S. military is at Nigerien Air Base 201 at the request of the Government of Niger,” said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, Commander, U.S. Africa Command. “We are working with our African and international partners to counter security threats in West Africa. The construction of this base demonstrates our investment in our African partners and mutual security interests in the region.”

U.S. Africa Command has an agreement with the Government of Niger for use of armed and unarmed air assets in its airspace that improve our combined ability to respond to threats and other security issues in the region. These assets are used towards achieving the mutual goals of the United States and our West African partners. Partnership is required to counter violent extremism in West Africa and prevent its spread.

“Flexible and diverse postures across the African continent enable us to facilitate operational needs and better support our partners in the region,” explained U.S. Air Force Gen. Jeff Harrigian, Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa. “The location in Agadez was selected in conjunction with Niger due to the geographic and strategic flexibility it offers to regional security efforts.”

The new runway at Nigerien Air Base 201 is a joint-use runway that is suitable for both U.S. and Nigerien aircraft, allowing for enhanced response to regional requirements and better protection of Niger’s borders.
https://www.africom.mil/media-room/pres ... -in-agadez

[malikos]

those fxxkers.

I really hope they get their asses kicked with local militia and insurgents.
...anyway it was a huge mistake from Algeria not to make clear enough, that such a base will NOT be tolerated.
A great strategic error...Americans leave never unless it is very costly at all levels....that is just their policy.

So please please, start to make it costly for them.

This obscure, costly air base is the new front in the battle against violent extremism
By: Stephen Losey
November 13 at 11:30 PM
Senior Airman Cullen Thomas, a military working dog handler with the 824th Expeditionary Base Defense Squadron, and his dog, Klepa, perform a perimeter check at Nigérien Air Base 201, Niger, Dec. 9. (Staff Sgt. Daniel Asselta/Air Base)
On a sandy patch of land in Niger, at the edge of the Sahara Desert, lies the Air Force’s newest base. It’s all but unknown to the vast majority of Americans and is shrouded in secrecy, but it represents one of the biggest construction efforts in Air Force history — and a new front in the fight against extremist militants on the African continent.

Welcome to Nigerien Air Base 201.

U.S. Africa Command on Nov. 1 announced that the new base in Agadez, Niger — designed to house armed drones and other aircraft that have been operating out of an international airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital — had begun flying intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions that week.

Critically located in central Niger, Air Base 201 is positioned to strike terrorist groups and extremist militants — including fighters affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State — in countries throughout the Sahel region, which spans the width of the African continent south of the Sahara and includes parts of Mali, Sudan and Chad.

Air Force Gen. Jeff Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces in Africa, said the site was chosen specifically for that geographic advantage.

“Flexible and diverse postures across the African continent enable us to facilitate operational needs and better support our partners in the region,” Harrigian said in an AFRICOM news release. “The location in Agadez was selected in conjunction with Niger due to the geographic and strategic flexibility it offers to regional security efforts.”


U.S. Africa Command announced Nov. 1 that armed drones had begun flying intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions out of Nigerien Air Base 201. (Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson/Air Force)
Why here? Why now?

At a time when the military is shifting its focus to counter aggressive actions by nations such as China, Russia or North Korea, why is the U.S. military expanding its capability to hit small, ragtag groups of locally based extremists?

Gen. Dave Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, acknowledged that seeming contradiction during a breakfast on Capitol Hill Nov. 6. While the National Defense Strategy does emphasize a shift to great power competition, he said, it also doesn’t let the military off the hook when it comes to maintaining campaign pressure on groups such as ISIS.

“You’re going to see us continue to focus on keeping our boot on the throat of violent extremism,” Goldfein said. “The operation in Niger is a key part of that going forward.”

Power in partnership: An investment in a promising future for Africa
Power in partnership: An investment in a promising future for Africa
Investment in partnerships sets the foundation for future opportunity for the U.S., as well as our partners, says the deputy AFRICOM commander in this commentary.

By: Lt. Gen. Jim Vechery
There are currently at least 11 offshoots of terrorist groups operating in that region of Africa, mostly splintered from al-Qaida, ISIS and Boko Haram, said retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense. It’s better to disrupt those organizations before they can damage friendly governments in the area, he said, or even develop into a threat that could strike the United States itself, the way al-Qaida did nearly 20 years ago.

“Most Americans don’t know it, but that area around Niger has really become a bad neighborhood,” Spoehr said.

Extremist and terrorist groups such as ISIS tend to gravitate to places that are ungoverned or weakly governed, where they can set up bases and operate with little to no pushback from the local authorities, retired Gen. Hawk Carlisle told Air Force Times Nov. 5. Unfortunately, he said, there are a lot of those spaces in Africa.

Airmen assigned to the 409th Air Expeditionary Group watch as a C-130J Super Hercules taxis in at Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, Aug. 3. The C-130 landing marked the next step in airfield evaluations by starting Visual Flight Rules operations at the base. (Staff Sgt. Devin Boyer/Air Force)
Airmen assigned to the 409th Air Expeditionary Group watch as a C-130J Super Hercules taxis in at Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, Aug. 3. The C-130 landing marked the next step in airfield evaluations by starting Visual Flight Rules operations at the base. (Staff Sgt. Devin Boyer/Air Force)
With ISIS’s shocking 2014 blitzkrieg across Syria and much of Iraq still fresh in recent memory, Carlisle said, military leaders believe a fully functional base in Niger is the best way to prevent something similar in western Africa. It’s a lot easier to stop such a group at the beginning of its growth rather than later, after it has dug in deeply in cities and fortified positions, as ISIS did in cities like Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.

“When we left Iraq, we allowed things to happen — we didn’t have a residual capability,” said Carlisle, who was head of Air Combat Command before his retirement in 2017 and is now president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association. “Part of the lessons learned is, the adversary knows what we can and can’t do, to a large extent, and if they see that we’re not engaged in an area, they know they can take advantage of that — and they will.”

Air Base 201 can also provide a significant deterrent effect, Carlisle said, even — or especially — if violent extremists don’t know exactly what might be coming over the horizon. Many activities at the base will be classified to varying degrees, he said.

“At any given moment, the violent extremists and terrorists are not going to know what’s there [at the base] and what we’re doing,” Carlisle said. “It puts doubt in their minds … [and] makes them think twice about what they’re going to do.”

William Meeker, the Africa director for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said in a Nov. 6 interview that the Sahel region faces a complex web of criminal networks, opposition groups such as ISIS offshoots, and longstanding intercommunal conflicts. Some of these feed on one another, he said, particularly in Mali, where bad actors are stoking the fires of local grievances and producing an alarming increase in violent attacks and massacres targeting civilians.

F-15C Eagles receive fuel over Morocco in April 2018. With Nigerien Air Base 201 becoming operational, violent extremists are not going to know what’s there and what we’re doing, said retired Gen. Hawk Carlisle, former head of Air Combat Command. (Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield/Air Force)
F-15C Eagles receive fuel over Morocco in April 2018. With Nigerien Air Base 201 becoming operational, violent extremists are not going to know what’s there and what we’re doing, said retired Gen. Hawk Carlisle, former head of Air Combat Command. (Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield/Air Force)
Secretive mission

The Air Force is remaining largely mum about what will be flown out of Air Base 201. MQ-9 Reapers will be based there — at times, flying armed missions in addition to ISR flights — and sometimes fighter jets as well. C-130s have also conducted resupply missions into the base as part of limited flying operations that began Aug. 1.

But beyond that, AFRICOM spokesman Col. Chris Karns declined to say which specific aircraft are operating at Air Base 201, due to security concerns.

USAFE-AFAFRICA spokesman Capt. Christopher Bowyer-Meeder said Air Base 201’s sole runway, which is 6,200 feet long, can support “light fixed-wing aircraft, including C-130s, C-17s and some DV [distinguished visitor] airlift.” But it is not built to support F-16s, bombers or tankers, he said.

“The U.S. military is at Nigerien Air Base 201 at the request of the Government of Niger,” said Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of AFRICOM, in the Nov. 1 news release. “We are working with our African and international partners to counter security threats in West Africa,” said Townsend, who visited Niger in September to meet with President Mahamadou Issoufou. “The construction of this base demonstrates our investment in our African partners and mutual security interests in the region.”

Bowyer-Meeder said there are now no plans to expand the runway there.

But in an email, Carlisle said that might eventually change, allowing a larger class of aircraft to use the base.

“6,200 [feet] is not long enough for sustained ops for fighters, bombers, tankers, or big wing ISR,” Carlisle wrote. “It is a piece of concrete long enough for diverts or emergencies, and [the] plan is to eventually (hopefully, sooner rather than later) extend the runway to 10,000” feet.

U.S. and Nigerien flags are raised side by side in April 2018 at the base camp for airmen and other personnel supporting the construction of Nigerien Air Base 201. (Carley Petesch/AP)
U.S. and Nigerien flags are raised side by side in April 2018 at the base camp for airmen and other personnel supporting the construction of Nigerien Air Base 201. (Carley Petesch/AP)
Spoehr said moving air operations out of the civilian airport in Niamey is a great advantage. The capital is located in the southwest corner of Niger, and Air Base 201’s central location provides much better access to more locations, Spoehr said.

It also will provide a lot more operational security, Spoehr said. Anyone watching the Niamey airport could see when a Reaper or other military aircraft was taking off and find out that a military operation of some kind might be going on, he said. But with takeoffs occurring at a military location, he said, it’s much easier to keep those operations under wraps.

Air Base 201’s facilities are also specially built for military operations, sized correctly for drone operations and with the proper fuel and weapons storage, Spoehr said.

“It’s not terribly easy to do at an international airport, strap on Hellfire missiles and that kind of thing,” he said.

It will also be easier to manage the airspace without having to schedule flights around civilian airliners taking off from or landing at the international airport, he said.

Dark cloud

Hanging over the military’s ongoing Niger mission and the opening of Air Base 201 is the tragic loss of four U.S. Army soldiers and their Nigerien allies in an October 2017 ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo, on the southwest border with Mali.

A sand storm descends on the air base in Niger. (Airman 1st Class Thomas Jamison/Air Force)
A sand storm descends on the air base in Niger. (Airman 1st Class Thomas Jamison/Air Force)
A devastating Pentagon report on the battle found that the soldiers that day didn’t have a drone flying overhead at the time of the ambush — or any air cover, for that matter. An RPA could have provided them with recon information to alert them to the vastly superior enemy forces nearby. The first unarmed ISR drone arrived on the scene an hour and a half after the battle began, and two French Mirage fighter jets arrived shortly thereafter, performing show-of-force flyovers that drove off the enemy fighters.

Having Air Base 201 in the area, providing more ISR information, will help troops on the ground — whether U.S. special operators or simply Nigerien forces — better prepare and understand the battlespace they’re walking into, Carlisle said.

The base will likely be able to provide some kind of combat search-and-rescue and medevac capability to more quickly get wounded troops off the battlefield and into treatment, hopefully within the so-called “Golden Hour” when wounded have the best chance of survival, Carlisle said. He would not comment on what kind of medical facilities are at Air Base 201 but said any base will have some capacity to respond to medical emergencies.

Responding to events

The opening of Air Base 201 could lead to the U.S. taking a more offensive posture, ready to use armed drones against bad actors, Meeker said. The U.S. should improve its ability to track and mitigate harm done to civilians as a result of drone operations, he said.

But conversely, Meeker said, the increased use of ISR platforms there also could reduce civilian casualties by helping forces on the ground sort out groups of civilians from armed enemies.

It’s likely that Air Base 201 will have a constant ISR presence in the form of Reapers and other drones, and possibly manned ISR aircraft, Carlisle said. But one of its biggest advantages will be the flexibility it provides to rapidly send in different kinds of aircraft to respond to whatever events may unfold in the region.

“It’s not going to be Al Dhafra, Al Udeid,” Carlisle said. “I don’t think you’ll have a permanent presence. I don’t think you need that. But there’s a lot of different things you could do.”

A security forces airman with the 824th Expeditionary Base Defense Squadron keeps watch at Nigerien Air Base 201 in November 2018. (Screen grab from video by Staff Sgt. Daniel Asselta/Air Force)
A security forces airman with the 824th Expeditionary Base Defense Squadron keeps watch at Nigerien Air Base 201 in November 2018. (Screen grab from video by Staff Sgt. Daniel Asselta/Air Force)
For example, Carlisle said, the Air Force could launch an aircraft from a base in Europe — or potentially even the United States — and rather than having to turn around and go home immediately after the mission is done, Air Base 201 could serve as something of a way station. That aircraft could land there, refuel, rearm, get maintained, and swap in a fresh, pre-positioned crew, he said, and then perform additional missions before flying back home.

It could also serve as a forward operating location, if necessary, Carlisle said — one a lot closer to regions of West Africa than Aviano Air Base in Italy.

“It gives commanders options,” Carlisle said. “Aviano to [Camp Lemonnier in] Djibouti is a long freakin’ flight. I don’t think people realize how large Africa is.”

New requirements

Nigerien Air Base 201 can be run with a relatively light manpower footprint, Spoehr said, with most of its drones capable of being flown by pilots back home in the continental United States.

But keeping it running will still require airmen — particularly maintainers, logistics airmen, air traffic controllers and munitions specialists, Carlisle said. The tricky part is that some of those key jobs, especially in maintenance, are ones which Air Force has struggled to keep fully manned in recent years.

“Our problem today, one is capacity, and now we put another drain on the capacity,” Carlisle said.

To fill those gaps, Carlisle said the Air Force will have to get help from its sister services, as well as contractors and allied nations.

During his discussion at the breakfast, Goldfein specifically saluted France for its cooperation in fighting extremism in North Africa.

“Violence flourishes where governance is low,” he said.

The completion of the air base, about a year overdue, has been a major undertaking. Not only is it the largest Air Force-led construction project in the service’s history, its price tag has likely topped $110 million. In addition, it will cost an estimated $30 million each year to run the base, totaling $280 million by the time the 10-year agreement to use the site expires in 2024.

Building the airfield — particularly its joint-use runway, capable of accommodating both U.S. and Nigerien aircraft — has been extremely complicated. Karns, the AFRICOM spokesman, described it as “a historic civil engineering feat.”

Doing a quality construction job that will last over time is complicated in that part of the world, Carlisle said. There’s not a lot of infrastructure, materials or skilled labor of the kind needed to build an airfield to Air Force specifications, he said, which means more transportation to get those resources to the construction site at Agadez.

Carlisle said that while the base will, most of the time, have a fairly small footprint, it needs to be able to quickly expand in response to unfolding situations. That means the base needs facilities that, even if they’re unused most of the time, can quickly be put into action to handle incoming airmen and other personnel.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your ... extremism/

...ok we will be a squadron F16 and some U2/ and some tankers...that is what I see.
Of course some gunships and some light infantry...and lots of Spezial Ops and CIA-folks... etc.
I would even guess a second runway and some bunkers once the whole concept starts to work out...
Just wait and see...

That allows us to master the whole of north and west Africa and serve as a supply hub for US-aircraft coming from the US and going to the middle east...
Also from a drone perspective...I guess sooner or later with ever-growing distances drones can cover, the whole of Agadez/Djibouti corridor will be dominated by US drones, but also aircraft and all the countries surrounding. Such a foreseeable move.

But our "elite" at the time was busy, with "other" things...

[malikos]

Niger : plus de 70 soldats morts dans une attaque contre un camp militaire

Publié le : 11/12/2019 - 20:57
Modifié le : 11/12/2019 - 20:57

Des soldats nigériens s'entraînent à Ouallam, au Niger, le 18 avril 2018.
Des soldats nigériens s'entraînent à Ouallam, au Niger, le 18 avril 2018. Aaron Ross, Reuters
Texte par :
FRANCE 24
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L'attaque, mardi 10 décembre, d'un camp de l'armée à Inates, dans l'ouest du Niger, a fait 71 morts, selon le ministère de la Défense nigérien.

L'armée nigérienne a subi ses plus lourdes pertes depuis qu'elle est confrontée au défi jihadiste, lors de l'attaque mardi 10 décembre du camp d'Inates, dans l'Ouest, près de la frontière avec le Mali.

"Malheureusement, on déplore le bilan suivant : 71 militaires tués, 12 blessés, des portés disparus, et un nombre important de terroristes neutralisés", selon un communiqué du ministère de la Défense, lu à la télévision nationale mercredi.

"Les combats", qui ont duré trois heures, ont été "d'une rare violence, combinant des tirs d'artillerie et l'emploi de véhicules kamikazes par l'ennemi", a ajouté le ministère, estimant le nombre de "terroristes lourdement armés" à "plusieurs centaines".

Un précédent bilan de source sécuritaire faisait état de plus de 60 morts, précisant que "les terroristes ont pilonné le camp à l'aide d'obus", et que beaucoup de victimes étaient décédées dans des explosions de dépôts de munitions et de carburant.

Assauts jihadistes de plus en plus audacieux

https://www.france24.com/fr/20191211-ni ... -militaire

L'ampleur inédite des pertes subies a été ressentie jusqu'au sommet de l'État, alors que le président français Emmanuel Macron doit accueillir samedi ses homologues du Sahel pour "reclarifier le cadre et les conditions politiques" de l'intervention militaire française dans la région.

"Le président de la République, chef suprême des armées, Issoufou Mahamadou, a interrompu sa participation à la Conférence sur la paix durable, la sécurité et le développement en Afrique qui se tient en Égypte, pour rentrer à Niamey suite au drame survenu à #Inates", a indiqué la présidence sur Twitter. Il présidera jeudi une réunion du Conseil national de sécurité, a-t-elle ajouté.

Cette attaque est la plus meurtrière depuis le début de l'offensive jihadiste au Niger, en 2015. Au-delà de ce pays, c'est tout le Sahel – en particulier le Mali, le Niger et le Burkina Faso –, qui est visé par les assauts de plus en plus audacieux de groupes islamistes armés, en dépit de la présence des militaires français de la force antiterroriste Barkhane.

Attaques de plus en plus fréquentes

Mardi, le conseil des ministres nigérien avait prorogé pour une période de trois mois l'état d'urgence décrété depuis 2017 dans plusieurs départements pour lutter contre les attaques jihadistes.

Cette mesure accorde des pouvoirs supplémentaires aux forces de sécurité sur les théâtres des opérations, dont celui d'ordonner des perquisitions de nuit comme de jour dans un domicile. En outre, elle limite les déplacements dans les espaces concernés.

>> À voir, L'Entretien de France 24 : "Mahamadou Issoufou : 'Il faut une coalition internationale contre les jihadistes au Sahel'"

Le nord de la région de Tahoua et la région voisine de Tillabéri sont la cible d'attaques de plus en plus fréquentes, menées par des jihadistes venus du Mali proche.

Depuis octobre, il est formellement interdit aux organisations humanitaires de se rendre dans certaines zones sans escorte militaire.

Avec AFP et Reuters

[malikos]

....with that relatively massive move, the US will put themselfs on the bullseye...we will see what happens, but a response is likely.

Niger : des attaques djihadistes contre l’armée et des aides américaines
11 décembre 2019Samuel Benshimon

Des hommes armés, à bord de motos, ont attaqué mardi une position de l’armée nigérienne dans la zone d’Inates (ouest), près de la frontière du Mali, selon une source sécuritaire.
Cette attaque est la deuxième en deux jours contre des positions de l’armée nigérienne.
Trois militaires nigériens et quatorze « terroristes » ont été tués lundi, dans une attaque contre un camp de l’armée dans la région de Tahoua (ouest) voisine de Tillabéri et proche du Mali, a indiqué mardi soir le ministère nigérien de la Défense dans un communiqué télévisé du Niger.
Par ailleurs, les Etats-Unis vont octroyer au Niger des équipements militaires et 60 véhicules blindés, d’un coût total de 21 millions de dollars, pour la force antijihadiste du G5-Sahel.
Treize véhicules blindés Mamba, 86 systèmes radios et quatre containers blindés ont déjà été remis la semaine passée au ministère nigérien de la Défense.
Les 47 autres véhicules « blindés tactiques », des pièces de rechange et des équipements de protection individuelle seront acheminés au Niger. Ces équipements sont destinés aux militaires nigériens engagés dans les opérations de la force antijihadiste du G5-Sahel (Niger, Tchad, Mali, Burkina Faso et Mauritanie), précise l’ambassade des Etats Unies d’Amérique.
Les USA vont également fournir au Niger un avion de transport militaire Hercules C-130 en février 2020. Ils ont déjà fourni plus de 14 millions de dollars en formations de pilotes, d’équipages, de mécaniciens et en pièces détachées.
Washington avait déjà offert en 2015 au Niger deux avions de type Cessna C-208 pour surveiller son vaste territoire, ainsi que des véhicules blindés de transport de troupes et des petits bateaux à moteur.
Le Niger a également début 2019 reçu un bâtiment abritant un centre de communication et de transmissions militaires pour aider ce pays à lutter contre les groupes islamistes, notamment Boko Haram.
Washington a accru ces dernières années sa présence militaire au Niger, qui lui a permis de construire une importante base de drones à Agadez (nord) dont le coût est estimé à une centaine de millions de dollars et qui donne aux Etats-Unis une plate-forme de surveillance de premier plan au Sahel. Le Niger, l’un des pays les plus pauvres en Afrique, est confronté depuis quelques années à des attaques des groupes terroristes djihadistes.

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http://sahel-intelligence.com/17992-nig ... aines.html

[FULCRUM]

Et dire que l'aviation française était a 200km du lieu de l'attaque...

[amg]

Qui tue qui j"ai envie de dire

[malikos]

Pour les Français la vie d’un africain ne compte pas beaucoup. Je pense ils vent que changer la stratégie si ARLIT est directement attaquer ou menacer ou bien la capitale avec leurs collaborateurs. Je ne pense pas ils vont faire quoi ce soit pour changer la balance…tous ce qui est aux nord de la river Niger, est le « no mans land ».

Si non, ce type d’attaque est incertitude leurs serve bien.... pour justifier leur présence et leurs interventions à tous les niveaux.

[malikos]

L’armée française déploie ses drones armés au Sahel face aux jihadistes
Slate Afrique-19/12/2019 à 20:45


Un outil de plus dans la panoplie, sans changement de doctrine: la France dispose désormais de drones armés pour traquer les jihadistes au Sahel, au terme d’une série d’expérimentations menées depuis la base aérienne de Niamey.

L’armée française a annoncé jeudi avoir achevé de tester l’armement de ces appareils pilotés à distance par des aviateurs, que l’AFP a rencontrés sur place dimanche.

Chargés depuis 2014 d’observer les groupes armés au Sahel et de collecter du renseignement, les trois drones américains Reaper actuellement déployés dans le cadre de l’opération française Barkhane peuvent désormais faire feu sur des ennemis identifiés au sol, à l’instar des avions de combat qui sillonnent l’immense zone désertique.

Un nouvel atout, alors que la situation ne cesse de se dégrader au Sahel, en particulier dans la zone dite des « trois frontières » entre Mali, Niger et Burkina Faso. En dépit de la mobilisation des 4.500 militaires français de Barkhane.

Paris rejoint ainsi le club restreint des pays utilisant des drones armés, parmi lesquels les Etats-Unis, le Royaume-Uni et Israël.

« L’intérêt, c’est que quand vous êtes en train de surveiller une zone, si vous identifiez des ennemis et qu’il y a un besoin urgent de traiter cette cible, le drone armé va pouvoir le faire », expliquait dimanche à l’AFP à Niamey le chef d’état-major de l’armée de l’Air, le général Philippe Lavigne.

Derrière lui, sur le tarmac chauffé à blanc, un drone français s’apprête pour la première fois à voler équipé de deux bombes GBU 12 à guidage laser de 250 kg, pour un tir de validation.

– « Discrétion et endurance » –

« Laser, gouvernes, tout est branché, sécurité enlevée. Bon vol! »: l’armurier effectue un dernier contrôle de l’appareil de 20 mètres d’envergure avec un pilote français, qui rejoint ensuite son « cockpit », petite cabine beige constellée d’écrans et plongée dans la pénombre d’où il déclenchera le tir.

« Avant, nous étions un oeil pour dire où était la menace. Avec l’armement on va pouvoir agir, pour aider des troupes au sol à se désengager par exemple », fait valoir le capitaine Nicolas (son nom reste confidentiel pour des raisons de sécurité), pilote de chasse membre de l’escadron de drones 1/33 « Belfort ».

« Le drone ne remplace en aucun cas un avion de chasse et sa réactivité, mais il a l’avantage de la discrétion et de l’endurance » avec une autonomie de vol de 20h, à une altitude comprise entre 7.000 et 13.000 mètres d’altitude, détaille-t-il.

L’armée française recevra l’an prochain six Reaper supplémentaires, équipés de missiles américains Hellfire guidés par GPS. Le parc de drones doit monter à 12 en 2025, puis 24 en 2030.

Leur usage sera strictement encadré par la France, insistent les autorités. Le sujet est sensible: l’intense campagne d' »assassinats ciblés » menée par les Etats-Unis à l’aide de drones en Afghanistan, au Pakistan ou au Yémen, a été régulièrement accusée de bafouer l’éthique et de « déshumaniser » la guerre.

« Il s’agit d’une nouvelle capacité, pas d’un changement de doctrine. Les règles d’engagement des drones armés sont exactement les mêmes que celles des avions de chasse », pour les équipages – un pilote, un opérateur capteur, un interprète d’images et un officier de renseignement -, a insisté jeudi la ministre des Armées Florence Parly.

« L’homme est toujours dans la boucle: c’est l’homme qui décide d’utiliser cette capacité ou non », fait valoir le général Lavigne.

– Vision « comme dans une paille » –

Lors de l’entrée en service des drones armés dans la Royal Air Force, « l’opinion publique était réticente », a souligné le chef d’état-major de l’armée de l’Air britannique, Mike Wigston, dont le pays dispose de neuf Reaper armés.

« Le drone est un moyen plus sûr et plus efficace de cibler des terroristes qu’un avion de chasse », a jugé ce vétéran d’Irak et d’Afghanistan, en visite à Niamey avec son homologue français.

« Les équipages de drones peuvent garder un oeil très longtemps sur la cible » pour l’identifier, « ils ne sont pas assis dans un cockpit étroit dans les airs à craindre de manquer de carburant », réduisant ainsi le risque de dommage collatéral.

Mais certains militaires français semblent encore éprouver quelques réserves.

« Des frappes inappropriées, c’est 50 recrues de plus » pour les groupes armés, avertit un haut gradé de Barkhane en appelant au discernement dans l’usage de cet outil, pour « vaincre sans perdre notre âme ».

Alors que la dégradation sécuritaire s’accélère au Sahel, les drones armés n’offriront pas de solution miracle, prévient un autre officier. « Il est impossible de tout surveiller dans cette zone vaste comme l’Europe. Dans un drone, on voit comme dans une paille. S’il se passe quelque chose à 20km de l’endroit surveillé, on le rate ».

http://www.slateafrique.com/1022606/lar ... adistesAFP,