Biden administration vowed security affiliation with Nigeria and Chad – a country situated at the crossroads of North and Central Africa to annihilate terrorist organizations luring freely, but the cooperation is soon expected to subside after Russia confers signs of amiability with both regions
The military cooperation which fastened United States defense forces to land on Chad soil to protect the Sahel region from terrorist brutality is expected to reach an untimely expiration. Pentagon announced on Thursday to pull back some 1,000 military troops from both Chad and Niger, a step postulating an increasing Russian influence in Africa.
The ill-timed measure undertaken at the peak of heightened extremist violence in Sahel is accredited to Nigeria’s ruling junta which revoked a peacekeeping agreement with United States last month which facilitated the latter to allow troops to operate in the West African country.
The decision to withdraw considerable size of US military troops serving counterterrorism is consequential to active restrain from leaders of the pair reflecting distaste for the binding military agreement between the two African countries and the United States.
Reprimanding pressure enforced by the leaders on Pentagon to necessitate mandatory amendments and renegotiate rules and conditions under which U.S military personnel can operate has stipulated US defense department into action. The action is aimed at pulling out some dozens of Special Operation Forces and 75 Army Special Forces personnel deployed in Ndjamena – Chad’s capital, and some more than 1,000 military personnel from Nigeria in the coming months.
The untimely revocation of army troops in Chad was “prompted” by a letter
The forthcoming retreat manifesting immediate and effective withdrawal of troops from Chad was prompted by a Chadian letter sent by the Chief of Army Staff – Idriss Amine. Envisaged in the letter were negotiating deals which the U.S officials hypothesize is a tactic to pressure Washington to strike a favorable deal with Chad government before the country host its election scheduled for May 6th.
Barring endless conspiracy theories to erupt out-of-proportion, the US troops are scheduled to leave this weekend and complete their departure to Germany by May 1st. The letter had seated many US officials at the edge of speculations – drawing consequences of the transfer, wondering if the US government will revamp a new status-of-forces deal with the said countries or weather the withdrawal is only a temporary arrangement.
United States press secretary – Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has expressed instability in the plan vowing for the disengagement of army troops from both Chad and Nigeria. The movement of military personnel back to US is a temporary step as part of an ongoing review of security cooperation between the countries. The deployment will resume after May 6th Presidential election in Chad.
US military in cognizance of Russian companionship with Chad and Nigeria
The departure of US military advisers in both countries is not only bound to incompatible agreements or advancing a negotiating tactic but military speculates Nigeria and other Western African players have been neglecting United States security cooperation to reconcile security ties with Moscow. Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived in Nigeria to train Nigerian personnel the art of using air defense systems, furthering their defense cooperation.
Nigeria particularly has frayed relations with the Western countries only after its democratically elected President was ousted by a coup of armed soldiers who since the dawn of their regimen have initiated strategies aiming to shadow Nigeria’s past diplomacy to tighten their security relations with Russia. Russia manhandled by its authoritarian leadership has consistently enforced laws which failed to align with Western and European ideologies.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has only bittered their seemingly irremediable correlation, spawning in Biden a sense of personal responsibility to protect countries facing Putin’s assault on their territories. So even a speck of companionship with Russia would be a reason enough for the United States to severe any remote possibility of amiability with the African province.
