{"id":71052,"date":"2022-02-08T15:41:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T15:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/08\/hand-of-russia-visible-in-african-coups-says-africom-boss\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:55:10","slug":"hand-of-russia-visible-in-african-coups-says-africom-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/02\/08\/hand-of-russia-visible-in-african-coups-says-africom-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hand of Russia\u2019 visible in African coups says AFRICOM boss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/digital-press-briefing-with-the-commander-of-the-u-s-africa-command-u-s-army-general-stephen-j-townsend\/\" target=\"_blank\">Speaking virtually<\/a> from Rome during the recent 2022 African Chiefs of Defense Conference, U.S. Africa Command\u2019s Gen. Stephen Townsend said that \u201cthe hand of Russia\u201d may be present in a few of the recent coups the African continent has seen in the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following a question during the Feb. 3 conference regarding the number of coups and the possibility of Russian or Chinese influence, Townsend made the rare move of specifically calling out Russia for its potential involvement in Africa, amid the international focus largely highlighting the ongoing build up of tensions with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have not seen that \u2014 have not seen any involvement by the Chinese in any of these coups,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cWith Russia, I think it\u2019s a little less clear. I think I have received reports of Russian involvement at least in Sudan in the not too distant past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The October coup in Sudan is just one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2021\/12\/28\/2021-year-military-coups-return-to-the-stage-in-africa\" target=\"_blank\">four successful military coups<\/a> carried out in 2021, with Chad, Mali and Guinea also facing militaristic takeovers in the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/2022\/01\/13\/chief-bass-visited-airmen-in-niger-amid-ongoing-violence-in-africas-sahel\/\" target=\"_blank\">Violence in Africa has been increasing exponentially<\/a> in the past few years, especially in the Sahel, a semi-arid region crossing northern Africa between the Sahara to the north and and tropical savannas to the south, extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea across Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Eritrea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn 2020, the Sahel saw a 44-percent increase in violent events in the region,\u201d Col. Daniel Kobs, 409th Air Expeditionary Group commander, said in the Air Force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/2889246\/cmsaf-bass-visits-west-africa\/undefined\/undefined\/\">press release<\/a> marking Chief JoAnne Bass\u2019s December visit to U.S. troops in Niger. \u201cThe threat is real. Our partnerships in West Africa, now more than ever, are key to the counter-violent extremist organization fight. Our Airmen are critical to enabling our partner forces and building trust within the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Townsend was clear that he does not believe Russia was the driving force behind any of the coups, he specified that their involvement can likely be noted as an attributing factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe hand of Russia may be visible in one or two of these [coups],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AFRICOM commander also specifically noted the presence of mercenaries in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2021\/05\/28\/another-coup-mali-heres-what-you-need-know\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mali<\/a> from Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization that some believe is a direct branch of the Russian Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite denials from the Malian and Russian sides, Townsend said the U.S. has confirmed reports of their presence, with hundreds of Wagner members currently in-county and more potentially on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have observed the Malian junta bring Russian mercenaries into their country,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve invited them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Townsend said that after years of watching their efforts in Syria, Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic, the presence of Wagner Group does not bode well for Mali as a nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey never leave the situation better than they found it,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cMy experience is they will leave it much worse and they will also exploit the country at [it\u2019s own] expense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Townsend declined to specifically state why the influx of military coups in 2021 may have occurred, he did suggest they could be attributed to a lack of \u2014 or insufficient \u2014 governance and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. forces will continue to offer support to the members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Countries\/AfricaRegion\/Pages\/G5-Sahel.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">G5 Sahel Joint Force<\/a>, established in 2017 to respond to the expansion of armed and violent extremist groups and to the deteriorating security situation in the region, and affected nations, Townsend said, with equipment, training, intelligence-sharing and occasional airlift and advisory support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/01\/24\/africa\/military-detains-president-kabore-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Burkina Faso is the latest member-state to face a coup<\/a>, with the military taking control, deposing President Roch Kabore, and dissolving the government and parliament Jan. 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking on Burkina Faso, Townsend said the U.S. government is waiting for neighboring countries to make a decision before moving forward with any potential American action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I think I have received reports of Russian involvement at least in Sudan in the not too distant past,&#8221; AFRICOM Commander Gen. Stephen Townsend said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":85765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,89,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3318],"class_list":["post-71052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FO4XGZTRZ5GNHISTXGKL52CNSM","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2022\/02\/08\/hand-of-russia-visible-in-african-coups-says-africom-boss\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Hand of Russia\u2019 visible in African coups says AFRICOM boss - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;I think I have received reports of Russian involvement at least in Sudan in the not too distant past,&quot; AFRICOM Commander Gen. 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