Niger received on Tuesday new military equipment offered by its American partner in the fight against very active jihadists in the west and south-east of the country, AFP learned on Wednesday, September 21 from the Ministry of Defense in Niamey.
At a cost of 13 million dollars (more than 8.5 billion FCFA), the equipment is essentially made up of several types of vehicles including armored vehicles, underlines the ministry.
This new support for Niger "
is proof of the solidity of relations with the United States
" with a view to "
the rise in power
" of the Nigerien armed forces (FAN), commented the Minister of Defense, Alkassoum Indatou, who received the equipment in Niamey.
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This equipment will be intended in particular for the training center of the special anti-jihadist forces financed in 2021 by Germany, in Tillia, in the region of Tahoua (west), a region where armed jihadist groups affiliated with the group the state prevail. Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda.
The equipment will also be used to train Nigerien soldiers engaged in the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma), a border country also confronted with jihadist violence.
Niger and the United States have had a military cooperation agreement since 2015 on “
security and good governance
” which provides that the two countries undertake “
to work together on the fight against terrorism
”.
The American army must also “
train the Nigerien soldiers in the fight against terrorism
”, according to this agreement.
Agadez, US surveillance platform
Washington has increased its military presence in Niger in recent years, which has enabled it to build a major drone base in Agadez (north) near Libya, the cost of which is estimated at around one hundred million dollars and which gives the United States United a leading surveillance platform in the Sahel.
In 2017, the number of American soldiers was estimated at 800 - mainly special forces active against jihadist groups.
The United States has since provided Niger with armored vehicles, military surveillance and transport aircraft, and a military communications and signals center to help it fight the jihadists.
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On October 4, 2017, four American soldiers and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush by the Islamic State (IS) group in Tongo Tongo, a village in the Tillabéri region in the "
three borders
" zone, on the borders of Niger, from Mali and Burkina Faso.