Bloomberg: Niger receives Russian military instructors

In this image taken from video from RTN, Russian military forces unload equipment on a military transport plane at the Niamey airbase in Niamey, Niger, on April 10, 2024.

Russia boosted its influence in West Africa’s Sahel region by sending military instructors to Niger, its first such deployment, Bloomberg informs.

The instructors, who arrived in the country last Wednesday, brought an air-defense system and will train Nigerien troops, state-owned Radio Television du Niger reported late Thursday. RTN broadcast images showing a Russian cargo plane and men in military fatigues offloading what it described as “latest generation” military equipment.

The deployment aims to “develop military cooperation between Russia and Niger,” a Russian military trainer, whose face was partially covered by a scarf, said on RTN.

Niger already hosts American military personnel, with about 1,000 US troops deployed in the West African nation, the majority of them at a $110 million drone base in the central city of Agadez. The future of the US deployment is uncertain after Niger last month suspended a security agreement between the countries.

A government official on Wednesday said Niger had asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of its troops.

Like Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also ruled by the military, Niger is fighting Islamist insurgents and has rejected help from former colonial power France, which had troops in all three countries.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs