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Russian AFRICOM sparks US concern as it competes with US AFRICOM in Libya

Turkey was hoping that Russia’s presence in Libya was merely tactical and aimed at obtaining greater concessions in Syria.

Wednesday 05/08/2020

https://thearabweekly.com/russian-afric ... icom-libya


Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the second day of the Russia-Africa summit, last October in Sochi. (AFP)

MOSCOW – Russia is moving to expand its sphere of influence in Africa through new military bases and increasing troop numbers, in a move military experts say is aimed at building a military force in the form of a Russian-type AFRICOM capable of competing with the role the US military command in Africa (US AFRICOM) plays, which is more evident in Libya, where the United States has shown dismay at Russia’s support of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

A German report stated that Russia secured permits to establish military bases in six African countries, including Egypt and Sudan, in a step that reveals Moscow’s desire to protect its role in Libya through a belt of bases that would make targeting this role extremely risky, something the United States and Turkey have experienced in Syria. Turkey, which is currently at the centre of the Libyan conflict, was hoping that Russia’s presence in Libya was merely tactical and aimed at obtaining greater concessions in Syria.

US AFRICOM, in more than one statement, expressed Washington’s concern that Russia is repeating their tactics in Syria in Libya in order to tip the balance of the conflict in their favour, and said it was tracking the movements of what it describes as Russian-backed Wagner mercenaries.

Last July, US AFRICOM said there was

increasing evidence through satellite imagery of Russian military cargo aircraft, including the IL-6, transporting supplies to fighters from Russia’s private Wagner Military Group…The type and size of the equipment reveal an intention to maintain offensive combat capabilities.

Russia has consistently denied the US military’s statements.

It is widely believed that the Libyan conflict will serve as a test of the effectiveness of battle strategies for pivotal states, especially the United States and Russia, and that the results will either support or limit Russian expansion in Africa.

The Bild.de newspaper quoted a German foreign ministry report stating that since 2015, Russia has concluded military cooperation agreements with 21 African countries. It previously only had cooperation agreements with four African countries.

According to those agreements, the paper added, Moscow obtained guarantees to establish military bases in Egypt, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique and Sudan.

Observers say that Russia is expanding its influence in Africa as part of a broader strategy to be active in more than one theatre, including the economic sphere at a time when Africa has become a vital playground for different countries such as China, Turkey, Iran, the United States and France.

According to the German newspaper, Russia is sometimes secretly and sometimes formally training the forces of these countries. In this context, it has 180 soldiers in the Central African Republic.

The paper also pointed out that Moscow trains about twenty soldiers from Mali in Russia annually.

According to the same source, Russia is not only sending official soldiers to African countries, but is active there through security companies such as “Wagner,” despite Moscow’s denial of its management of these forces.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) meets with Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) in Moscow, last January. (AFP)

According to German experts, Moscow aims to achieve political, economic and military gains in Africa through Russian security companies.

Russia is seeking to break a traditional image of it being a country of direct military interests, and therefore its wager on Africa has taken various forms, including $70 million dollars spent to host the Russian-African summit October 23-24, 2019 in Sochi in which 34 African leaders participated.

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, between 2015 and 2017, Russia supplied African countries with military equipment, including military and transport helicopters, aircraft and anti-aircraft missile systems.

On the sidelines of that summit in Sochi, Nigeria signed an agreement with Russia to purchase 12 military helicopters. Cameroon, South Africa and Eritrea were among the countries that indicated their desire to purchase aircraft, tanks and heavy weapons from Russia.

Not long ago, the Central African Republic, which has been plagued by years of civil war, signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia, according to which Russian military advisers will be officially present in the capital, Bangui, to train their security units confronting threats from armed extremist groups.

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Russia building military bases in Africa: Report

Daily publishes details of reported secret German government document on 'Russia’s new Africa ambitions'

Oliver Towfigh Nia

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/russia- ... t-/1931550

04.08.2020


Russia building military bases in Africa: Report file photo ( Russian Defense Ministry - Anadolu Agency )

BERLIN

Russia is planning to step up its military cooperation with African countries as part of its new Africa strategy, including building bases in six countries, Germany daily Bild reported Tuesday, citing a secret German Foreign Ministry report.

The classified document on what it calls

Russia’s new Africa ambitions

says Russian President Vladimir Putin had made

Africa a top priority.

An important aspect of Russia’s advance in Africa is military cooperation with some of the continent’s dictatorial regimes, it said.

Since 2015, Russia has concluded military cooperation agreements with 21 countries in Africa,

according to the leaked document.

Previously, there were only four military cooperation treaties across the entire continent, it added.

Furthermore, it said, the Kremlin was

contractually assured

it would

be allowed to build military bases in six countries,

namely the Central African Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Sudan.

Moreover, Russia's army is partially secretly and partially officially training soldiers from those countries, according to the report.

For example, 180 Russian army instructors are based in the Central African Republic or elsewhere in Africa, said the report.

Around 20 Malian soldiers are trained in Russia every year,

it added.

But Russia is not only aiming for a permanent deployment of its troops in Africa but it also increasingly relying on private armies or proxy groups like the Wagner Group -- infamous for supporting warlord Khalifa Haftar in Libya -- said the report.

Ministry experts labeled the group a Russian

hybrid instrument to exert political, economic, and military influence.

Kremlin mercenaries could also be deployed to help stabilize dictatorial African regimes, it said.

The capabilities of Russia's armed forces and mercenaries are

of great interest for autocratic regimes in possible use against their own people,

the report added.

Meanwhile, Russia is already a major arms supplier to the African continent.

With a market share of 37.6%, Russia is the top weapons supplier to Africa, followed by the US with 16%, France with 14%, and China with 9%.

Algeria reportedly remains the biggest recipient of Russian arms in Africa, followed by Egypt, Sudan, and Angola.

አማራ ለቃቅመህ አባረርህ

እንደ ህክምና ባለሙያ የተጋገነ ነገር አልወደም

ቄሮ በትግሉ ውስጥ ሚና እንዳለው ባይካድም፣ ዛሬ በቀለና ጃዋር ቄሮ የሚሉት ቀደም ሲል ለሞተው ቄሮ ክብር ሳይሆን ገና ወደፊት ስልጣን እስክንይዝ ድረስ ሙትልን ለማለት ነው

ሲንገበገብ ሁሉንም አጣው

ጥቂት ጯሂዎች አብዛኛውን እያስፈራሩ ነው

ኦ.ኤም.ኤን. የጃዋርና የጫጩቶቹ ወይም የአሉላ ድምጽ ነው፤ ጥቂቶች አብዛኞችን የሚያስፈራሩበት መሣሪያ ነው

የጫት መቃሚያ፣ የጨብሲ የሚከፈላቸው

ጃዋር ሲመጣ ግን አርሲ፣ ሙስሊም፣ …

ቱልቱላ ነው

በ30 ዓመት ያየሁት መጥፎ ባህል ውጤታማ ከሆንክ ትጠላለህ። ከተዳፈርክና አሸንፈህ ከወጣህ ይነሱብሃል

አክራሪ አይዶሎጂ አለው። አይዶሎጂውን ይጠብቃል። ሌት ተቀን ላመነበት መርህ ይሰራል። ለፕሪንሲፕል ይሞታል

ውሸታሞች

… አፈጣጠሩ መጥፎ ቢሆንም ፣ ልጅ ሆኖ ገብቶ በጥበብ፣ በሂደት፣ ለውጥ አመጡ ጀግኖች ናቸው

ኦነግ አፈጣጠሩ መልካም ነበር ቆይቶ ፌክ ሆነ፤ ገዳይ ሆነ

negotiating with a group that has little regard to the constitution is meaningless.