Posted on 07/26/2023 4:51:53 AM PDT by AdmSmith
The group said in a statement carried by its AMAQ news agency and posted on its Telegram channel that the soldiers were killed in an ambush on a convoy near the town of Teguey in the Tillaberi region in the west of the country.
Niger's defence ministry said late on Thursday that 23 soldiers were killed in the attack, which also wounded 17 more. Around 30 attackers were killed, it added.
US withdrawal from Niger could pose significant obstacles to counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel region with repercussions for the entire continent.
The Sahel is witnessing a new era where Western powers lack substantial influence.
China and Russia are both broadening their economic and military footholds in Africa.
A variety of factors are leading to the decline of American influence in Africa and on a global scale.
In Burkina Faso, unknown persons attacked a convoy in which General Andrei Averyanov was located. This is a very important military man. It is he who oversees the projects that Wagner PMC previously conducted in Africa. As you know, after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, it was Averyanov, as the head of the secret unit 29155, who began to contact the leaders of a number of foreign states to continue close cooperation on the continent, but under the umbrella of the GRU.
On April 5, Averyanov arrived in Burkina Faso on an unannounced visit. However, the trips of such people are unlikely to be announced. While advancing as part of a convoy, the car with the general was hit by a kamikaze drone. Averyanov’s car was hit by an impact, but he himself survived. What saved him was the armor of the car and the fact that the blow hit the front of the car, and the general in the back.
Our forces located in Burkina Faso and local authorities have devoted all their efforts to searching for the attackers, but so far they have not been found. The general needed medical attention, and two people died as a result of the attack. Sources hint that Ukrainian intelligence services may have been involved in the attack. After all, they often use FPV drones , including during conflicts in Africa. However, the search for hunters for the general continues.
https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/3899
Notorious Russian general, master spy duo organise in Africa after Prigozhin’s demise.
Diplomatic finesse is arguably not Averyanov’s strong suit. General Averyanov is best known for having led the GRU’s infamous 29155 unit, which specialises in covert operations like sabotage and assassination. Spies from this unit are suspected of having blown up an ammunition depot in the Czech Republic in 2014, attempting to stage a pro-Serbian coup in Montenegro in 2016 and the attempted poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018.
In other words, “[Averyanov’s] qualification is preparing special operations abroad. He is the ‘hit and kill guy’ you call when you need this kind of service,” says Heinemann-Gruder, a Russia specialist who studies private paramilitary groups at the University of Bonn.
What's in it for African regimes? “Averyanov can … take over some elements of regime security, and not only bodyguard services, but also in [his] area of specialisation: repression and targeted assassination,” adds Klyszcz.
But Averyanov is more than a cold-blooded killer. “Averyanov is a decorated veteran from Afghanistan and Chechnya and was also active in Moldova and Crimea. As with all Russian special operatives, he is trained to take the initiative, operate cut off from superiors’ orders, and make links with local allies,” says Jeff Hawn, Russia specialist and an external consultant for the New Lines Institute. This pedigree makes him an ideal candidate to negotiate with local military groups, just as Wagner's managers would do when arriving in a new country in Africa.
Thanks for the ping.
WOW
Rosatom believes it can capture a significant slice of this market — speaking in Russia's parliament this month, the group's director-general Alexey Likhachev said he considered Africa a “point of growth” for nuclear technology.
Last week, Rosatom announced it had signed nuclear energy “co-operation” agreements with Mali, Burkina Faso and Algeria during the two-day Atomexpo energy conference, held in the Russian city of Sochi. This entrenched an earlier agreement, announced in October, in which Rosatom said it would build a nuclear power station in Burkina Faso, a country in which the World Bank estimates only 19 per cent of the population has electricity.
Hartmut Winkler, professor of physics at the University of Johannesburg, wrote in December of the danger of African countries borrowing money from Russia to develop nuclear plants. Egypt, for example, borrowed $25bn from Russia to build the El Dabaa power station, which is meant to be paid off over 35 years at a 3 per cent interest rate per year.
“The drawback is that the country develops a strong long-term dependence on Russia to meet one of its most basic needs: electricity provision,” he wrote. The fallout from the Ukraine war could then lead to “disruption and ultimate termination of projects already in place”, given that it typically takes more than a decade to build a nuclear plant.
https://www.ft.com/content/4f1d0d1d-3a98-4b03-8771-54d88ed0a023
Dozens of Russian military instructors have arrived in Niger as part of a new agreement with the country's junta, which has cut links with the West. State media reported that they arrived along with a state-of-the-art air defence system. They are expected to install the system and teach Niger's army how to use it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68796359
This is not to fight Islamists.
According to a source from the Cheka-OGPU, clouds are increasingly gathering over the head of the GRU Special Activities Service (military unit 52659), Lieutenant General Andrei Averyanov, who is known as the organizer of a number of operations in Europe.
The Kremlin believes that Averyanov failed the Africa Corps project by not achieving the tasks assigned to him by the deadline. Today, preparations are underway for the withdrawal of the Africa Corps detachments from Africa for subsequent dispatch... to the Belgorod region. It's hotter there now. Averyanov, feeling that “the earth is burning under his feet,” is trying to give himself special meaning and importance in this process. This also explains the activation of “Wagner” (Alekseev supervised “Wagner” through the GRU) in recruiting fighters for the African direction. Africa in this “hot season” is the Belgorod region.
Is it unit 52659 or 29155?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRU_Unit_29155
“My concern is that if the Russians come in … they continue to make the terrorism problem worse, not better, and then when they're done extracting what they want to extract, they're going to pack up and go home, and this place is going to look like a nightmare,” said Colin P. Clarke, the director of research at the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consultancy.
Although Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they do not want to make African leaders choose among competing powers, the move underscores how the plurality of players vying for influence in Africa, where both Russia and China are seeking to make inroads, complicates U.S. security assistance efforts.
Among the equipment unloaded by Russian troops arriving in Niger was an anti-aircraft battery, according to reports in Russian and Nigerien state media. As local militant groups pose no threat from the skies, the move was widely regarded as a shot across the bow at U.S. drone operations in the country.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/26/niger-military-withdrawal-us-counterterrorism-russia/
Niger’s Military Coup Triggers Child Marriages, Sex Work in Neighboring Countries
"Don't drop that s___!"
The junta would struggle to replenish this loss given that sanctions would lead the French mining company currently operating the mine to stop production, forcing the junta to find a new provider willing to evade international sanctions. The company has already halted production since September to start routine maintenance earlier than planned after sanctions affected logistics.[11] This would severely limit the uranium Niger has to sell, which makes up 75 percent of its total exports.[12] The junta is already trying to speed up the opening of an alternative mining site currently owned by a Canadian company.[13]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/africa-file-may-2-2024-iran-pursues-economic-and-military-influence
Yes.
Benin has prevented neighbouring Niger from using its port to export its first crude oil, as a border dispute rages between the two nations. President Patrice Talon's government is demanding that landlocked Niger reopens its side of the border if it wants to use Benin's ports. Mr Talon accused Niger of treating its neighbour like an “enemy”.
Benin and other West African nations imposed sanctions on Niger, including border closures, in a bid to force the military to hand back power to the elected government. The sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) were eased in February, and were expected to normalise trade relations with Niger.
But Niger refused to open its land border for goods coming from Benin.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmm3dr2e5lqo
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