26, October 2017
Trump administration mulling drone attacks in Niger 0
The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly speeding up plans to use armed drone to attack militants in Niger, in the wake of a deadly ambush that killed four American troops in the African country.
The US is already using unarmed Reaper drones to gather intelligence in purported terrorist positions inside Niger but American military commanders want to be able to arms the aircraft like the French can, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed US military officials.
The officials said Washington has been pressing the government of Niger more aggressively to allow armed drones at the US bases there following the deadly October 4 ambush by Daesh terrorists near the country’s border with Mali.
The Pentagon revealed new details about the attack on Monday night but details of what happened remain murky more than two weeks after the incident.
According to General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the American troops were on their way back to their base when they were ambushed by some 50 Daesh militants.
It took the US troops an hour to request backup, Dunford said, noting that armed French Mirage fighter jets arrived on scene two hours after the ambush began. Apparently, the pilots did not fire at the militants because they could not distinguish them from friendly forces.
However, US officials say an unarmed Reaper drone rushed to the site of the attack within minutes of the team’s call for help.
Expanding US drone strikes to Niger would amount to a significant escalation in the global American drone campaign. While the US military has conducted occasional drone strikes in Libya and Somalia, most of Africa has not been excluded from the drone war which is focused on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
Colonel Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said refused to talk about “possible initiatives by the administration,” but said “the Department of Defense will always ensure our forces are properly equipped and have the necessary capabilities to accomplish their mission and defeat any threat.”
Pentagon officials say US forces in Niger do not currently have a combat role and are rather gathering intelligence that could come in handy once the Trump administration authorizes lethal operations there.
Presstv
26, October 2017
International Crisis Group identifies Boko Haram-CPDM Connections 0
A new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) published a day after the suspension of the Institution’s activities in Cameroon by the Biya regime has reportedly rocked Yaounde. The Belgian Non Governmental Organization (NGO) continues to fire bullets at the Francophone dominated government . In its latest report released Wednesday, October 25, 2017, ICG reported that some barons of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate in the Mayo Sava Division had requested help from the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram to dislodge President Paul Biya from power.
“Some in the Mayo Sava have said that Boko Haram should come and deliver them from Kafir (disbeliever) who is in Etoudi (the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon), “said the report while indicating that the sect tried from the onset of its abuses not to attack Muslims.
The authoritative organization also accused Biya and his gang of not communicating enough about the war they have been waging since May 2014 against the Nigerian sect. “The Cameroonian government does not communicate about the funds allocated for the war against Boko Haram. However, the budgets of the Ministry of Defense and the Delegation for National Security have increased from $ 305 to $ 420 million and from $ 130 to $ 145 million, respectively. Over the four years of conflict, security spending has increased by more than $ 500 million, “says ICG.
The report entitled “Far North of Cameroon: The Puzzle of Reconstruction in times of Conflict” noted that the fight against Boko Haram in the Far North which is the poorest region in the country, has exacerbated the already precarious economic situation and upset socio-economic roles. The International Crisis Group stressed that Cameroon’s war against Boko Haram since May 2014 has only worsened the already precarious economic situation of the four million inhabitants” of the Far North region.
Despite the economic difficulties experienced in the Far North, “the populations have shown a great capacity for adaptation and resilience that offers the Cameroonian government and international partners the opportunity to implement development policies that integrate diversity and fluidity of the economic traditions of this border region between Nigeria and Chad “.
The report says Cameroonians had a crush of 2 billion CFA to help the 22,000 displaced in the Far North. “But these mechanisms of solidarity quickly showed their limit: indeed, the helping populations are breathless and have become as vulnerable as the displaced populations,” regretted ICG.
International Crisis Group observed that “the government has favoured a military response and few concrete measures have been taken for economic recovery” in the Far North region. ICG revealed that the Northern Development Emergency Plan announced in June 2014 has “only” 78.8 billion CFA francs and is “well below the development needs of the area, evaluated at least 1 600 billion CFA francs (2.86 billion dollars) by the northern elites “.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Cameroon Info.Net