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Africom Watch
RSS FeedLesotho: 30 African nations gather for war games conference
2011-11-09, Issue 557
Defense representatives from more than 30 African nations joined together in Maseru, Lesotho, 7-11 November to participate in the initial planning conference for next year's Africa Endeavor. Africa Endeavor is an annual US Africa Command-sponsored co...
Africa: Global NATO seeks to recruit 50 new military partners
2011-11-09, Issue 557
A recent article in Kenya’s Africa Review cited sources in the African Union (AU) disclosing that the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is preparing to sign a military partnership treaty with the 53-nation AU. The author of the article, re...
Africa: AFRICOM: Devil in the backyard
2011-09-20, Issue 549
An opinion piece in the Herald argues that AFRICOM is 'undermining the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Council which deals with Peace and Security on the continent'....
Africa: US building secret drone bases
2011-09-21, Issue 549
The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda af...
Africa: Three terrorist groups pose threat to U.S.
2011-09-15, Issue 547
The New York Times reports that Commander Gen. Carter F. Ham, the top officer at Africa Command, has claimed that 'three violent extremist organisations on the continent were trying to forge an alliance to coordinate attacks on the United States and ...
Libya: Africa Command learns from operations
2011-09-16, Issue 547
A U.S Department of Defense release on its website says that Libya was the first major combat operation for U.S. Africa Command, and its men and women 'responded well', the unit’s commander said. 'Still, Africom - the military’s newest combatant comm...
Somalia: Obama widening war in Somalia
2011-09-01, Issue 546
Led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the U.S. is stepping up its war in Somalia, The Nation magazine reports. 'The CIA presence in (the capital) Mogadishu is part of Washington’s intensifying counter-terrorism focus on Somalia, which includes...
Africa: Squadron established to train air forces in Africa
2011-09-06, Issue 546
A squadron of airmen with key skill sets, including air traffic control and civil engineering, is preparing for a mission to train air forces in Africa to deliver supplies and large numbers of troops into conflict zones. The New Jersey-based 818th Mo...
Djibouti: US forces train Djibouti forces
2011-03-14, Issue 520
Under an overcast sky, nearly 200 members of the Djiboutian Army’s elite 1st Rapid Action Regiment honed their infantry skills, mentored by members of the US Army National Guard’s 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment. The training inc...
Algeria: American general visits
2010-12-09, Issue 509
US Army Africa Commander Major General David R. Hogg has praised the 'leading' role of Algeria in fighting terrorism in the Sahel region. Speaking at a 6 December press conference after his two-day visit to the country, the US military official laude...
Mali: US supports Mali's fight against terrorism
2010-11-09, Issue 504
The United States will continue its support for efforts by the Malian government in the fight against terrorist threats in the north of the country, said the US envoy with the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Rashad Hussain, at the end of hi...
Sahel: States co-ordinate fight against al-Qaeda
2010-09-30, Issue 498
Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger military chiefs of staff met at the Tamanrasset joint military command on Sunday 26 September to co-ordinate efforts against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Algeria gathering coincided with new developm...
Africa: Obama expands military involvement in Africa
2010-04-16, Issue 477
When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, it was widely expected that he would dramatically change, or even reverse, the militarised and unilateral security policy that had been pursued by the George W. Bush administration toward Afric...
Nigeria: US 'gives conditions' for dropping Nigeria from 'terror list'
2010-02-12, Issue 469
Nigeria will be struck off the list of 'countries of int erest' by the United States if the African nation can meet four conditions, the local media have reported. The conditions, issued by the US - according to Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe...
US African Command official visits Angola over military ties
2009-12-18, Issue 462
The Deputy Commander for Civil/Military Affairs of the US African Command (AFRICOM), Amb. Anthony Holmes, Wednesday visited Luanda, Angola, to foster a working relationship with the Angolan government....
Uganda: Big U.S. military exercise for northern region
2009-10-22, Issue 454
More than 1,000 American and East African troops are to be deployed in northern Uganda next week as the United States carries out its biggest military exercise in Africa this year. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are each sending up to 15...
US arms Mali to battle al-Qaeda
2009-10-22, Issue 454
The US is preparing to give Mali's army millions of dollars worth of military hardware to help them fight al-Qaeda's North African branch. Trucks, powerful communication devices and clothing are among $5m (£3m) of equipment being handed over....