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Friday, 23 May 2014

MAP: AFRICOM currently has boots on the ground in these African countries

Phantom Report

 
 Satellite Image: osimint

Editor’s Note: U.S. Predator Drone Team likely to be deployed to an established French Air Base operating from  N’Djamena International Airport , Chad.

Geoeye-23OCT12-FR-NDjamena-Mirage-2000-F1s


Source: Washington Post

President Obama’s announcement that United States has deployed 80 troops to Chad came as a surprise to many. But as my colleague Craig Whitlock points out, the United States already has boots on the ground in a surprising number of African countries.

This map shows what sub-Saharan nations currently have a U.S. military presence.

It should be noted that in most of these countries, there is a pretty small number of troops. 

But it is a clear sign of the U.S. Africa Command’s increasingly broad position on the continent in what could be described as a growing shadow war against al-Qaeda affiliates and other militant groups. It also shows an increasingly blurred line between U.S. military operations and the CIA in Africa.

More details of the troops deployed are below.

Burkina Faso

The United States has a base in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, since 2007. The base acts as a hub of a U.S spying network in the region, with spy planes departing form the base to fly over Mali, Mauritania and the Sahara, where they search for fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Congo

The United States has troops in Congo assisting the nation in the search for Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.

Central African Republic

In April 2013, the United States had around 40 troops in Central African Republic assisting the search for the LRA.

Chad

On Wednesday, Washington announced that it would be sending 80 troops to Chad to help with the search for Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Djibouti

The U.S. military has a major base in Djibouti, Camp Lemonnier. There are around 4,000 troops there, including lots of aircraft and drones.

Ethiopia

The United States has had a military drone base at Arba Minch since 2011. The base is used to fly Reaper drones over East Africa.

Read more at Washington Post

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