Boko Haram: US Sends 30 Military Specialists To Niger

The United States keep boosting their military presence in
West Africa in an attempt to stop terrorism and to
ensure stability and better security in the region.
A major TV station in Niger Republic, with the reference to
security sources, reported on Friday, November 6, that more
than 30 American troops arrived to the country. Their main
goal is training local personnel who are engaged in fighting
the militants of various Islamist groups, including Boko
Haram.
Nigerian Tribune reports that Eunice Reddick, the American
ambassador in Niger, visited the troops at a military base in
the city of Agadez, a strategic point in the deserted north of
the country.
A Niger military source said on local TV that the training
started in the middle of last month in Agadez. Over 30
instructors from the USA are training over 100 local soldiers.
This shows that the military and technical cooperation
between the two countries increases, as the Obama
administration donated of two military aircraft this October.
Washington seeks to tackle Islamist militants in the Sahel-
Sahara band, as well as Boko Haram fighters further south,
while minimising expensive, long-term troop commitments.
Niger is a desert corridor between Mali’s lawless north and
Libya’s barren south. Uncontrolled routes on its territory are
being used by Islamist militants, including some with ties to
Al-Qaeda.
It would be noted that another neighbour of Nigeria that
received military assistance from the USA is Cameroon. Up
to 300 military specialists and unmanned aerial vehicles are
being deployed there, the White House confirmed in the
middle of October.