Behind the Niger Coup: American Black Hand Reaches African Assault Teams | West Africa | United States

The US independent investigation website "Interception" recently revealed that one of the leaders involved in the Niger military coup, the commander of the Niger Special Operations Forces, Musa Salau Balmou, had received training from the US military.

The website also pointed out that since 2008, African military officers trained by the United States have participated in a total of 11 coups in West Africa.

Analysts point out that cultivating pro American forces, intervening in regional conflicts, cracking down on strategic competitors and anti American countries has become a common means for the United States to consolidate its hegemony.

On June 12, 2023, US Army Special Operations Commander Braga met with Niger Special Operations Force Commander Balmou at Niger Air Force Base

"The infiltration of external forces has led to coups in multiple African countries"

Since 2020, West African countries Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso have experienced coups, causing political instability in many countries and exacerbating the deterioration of the security situation in the region.

Frequent coups have resulted in heavy losses in the local area, with public service systems in some areas paralyzed and a large number of people displaced.

The deterioration of the security situation in West Africa is not solely due to its own problems. The intervention of foreign forces such as the United States has increased the instability factors in the region.

At the security conference held by the Economic Community of West African States in April last year, Ghanaian President Akufo Ado pointed out that the infiltration of external forces has led to coups in multiple countries. However, he did not specify which country the external forces specifically refer to.

Amy Goodman, the host of the American online news program "Democracy Now," stated in the program that in less than a year and a half, six coups have occurred in five African countries, many of which are led by military officers trained in the United States.

Screenshot of the "Democracy Now" website report

Taking Burkina Faso as an example, according to statistics from the US Africa Command, the leader of the Burkina Faso coup military, Damiba, has participated in at least 12 training events organized by the United States.

Screenshot of report from "Interception" website

Further analysis suggests that for most of the past 20 years, the United States has implemented numerous "counter-terrorism" and "security cooperation" programs in West Africa, providing a continuous stream of funds, weapons, equipment, and US military advisors, and even deploying assault teams in some unknown combat missions to "thwart the rise of extremist organizations in West Africa.".

Taking Burkina Faso as an example, according to data from the Security Assistance Monitoring Agency, the "security funds" provided by the United States have surged from $200000 per year before 2009 to $1.8 million in 2010, and have exceeded $16 million by 2018.

The survey also showed that the total amount of "security cooperation" assistance provided by the United States to Burkina Faso in 2018 and 2019 was as high as $100 million, with most of the funds used to support military operations and equipment, including vehicles, weapons, and generators.

However, the so-called "anti-terrorism efforts" of the United States not only failed to prevent extremist ideas from rampant in West Africa, but also caused great damage to the local area.

Data shows that years of violence have caused over 7000 deaths, over 1.4 million people to be displaced, and over 3.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Burkina Faso.

Screenshot of a report from Foreign Policy magazine in the United States

In addition to causing widespread death, pain, and fear, the United States' counter-terrorism efforts have also fueled the rise of a large number of armed militants in the area.

A report by Foreign Policy in the United States quoted sources as saying that approximately 80% of people who joined terrorist organizations said they did not become terrorists because they supported "holy war", but because their parents or brothers were killed by "security forces". "So many people have been killed, but they have not received justice.".

Screenshot of a report from Foreign Policy magazine in the United States

The United States is actually plundering African resources and interests

Analysis suggests that the United States, as an extraterritorial country, intervening in African regional affairs not only interferes with the existing dialogue mechanisms in the region, but also creates obstacles for the political resolution of regional conflicts; It may also lead to unexpected escalation or continued spread of regional conflicts, triggering larger scale and larger scale turbulence, and affecting regional and global peace and stability.

The 2022 evaluation report from the African Strategic Research Center of the US Department of Defense shows that in 2021, violent incidents related to extremist organizations in the Sahel region of West Africa increased by 70% from 1180 the previous year to 2005, setting a new record for the number of violent attacks.

Screenshot of the research report from the African Strategic Research Center

Britney Mitchell, an expert on West African issues at Williams College in the United States, pointed out bluntly that the United States is attempting to open up a new battlefield for the "war on terror" in West Africa, actually undermining stability in the West African region under the guise of promoting security.

Britney Michelle

American experts also publicly accuse the United States of hypocrisy. Assistant Professor Samar of the University of California, Irvine, said that "Africans will never forget the role played by the United States in the assassination of the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba, in the 1960s, nor the role played by the United States in overthrowing Libyan leader Gaddafi." "The United States does not have moral authority to call certain governments democratic or undemocratic.".

He Wenping, Director of the Africa Research Office at the Institute of West Asia and Africa, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that external intervention in Africa is actually aimed at plundering Africa's resources and interests.

Ugandan political analyst Kwam Gonza believes that Western powers have colonized Africa for hundreds of years in history, and Africa's resources have played a crucial role in the modernization of Western countries in the United States. Now, the United States intends to repeat its old tricks and continue to exploit African countries.