US officials on Thursday said the Pentagon will withdraw dozens of Special Operations forces from Chad in the next few days, the second major blow in a week to US security and counterterrorism policy in the region. volatile region in West and Central Africa.
The decision to withdraw about 75 Army Special Forces personnel working in Ndjamena, Chad's capital, came days after the Biden administration said it would do so. withdraw more than 1,000 US soldiers from Niger in the coming months.
The Pentagon is being forced to withdraw its troops in response to demands from African governments to renegotiate the rules and conditions under which American military personnel can operate. Analysts said both countries wanted terms more favorable to their interests. The decision to withdraw from Niger is final, but US officials said they hope to resume negotiations on security cooperation after Chad's elections on May 6.
The departure of US military advisers in both countries comes as Niger, as well as Mali and Burkina Faso, are turning their backs on years of cooperation with the US and forming a partnership with Russia – or at least seeking closer security ties with Moscow.
The Kremlin uses persuasion – and sometimes coercion – to achieve its goals. The The US warned the president of Chad last year that Russian mercenaries had plotted to kill him and three senior aides and that Moscow was supporting Chadian rebels concentrated in the Central African Republic, in the south. At the same time, the Kremlin is courting sympathizers in Chad's ruling elite, including cabinet ministers and the president's half-brother.
The impending departure of US military advisers from Chad, a sprawling desert country at the crossroads of continents, is prompted by a letter from the Chadian government this month that the United States saw as threatening to end a key security agreement with Washington.
The letter was sent to the US defense attaché and did not directly order US troops to leave Chad, but it did indicate a Special Operations task force operating from a Chadian military base in the capital. capital and serves as an important center for US coordination. military training and advisory missions in the region.
About 75 Green Berets from the 20th Special Forces Group, a National Guard unit from Alabama, served in the task force. Several other US service members work at the embassy or hold other consulting jobs and are not affected by the decision to withdraw troops, officials said.
The letter left American diplomats and military officers baffled and confused. It came from Chad's chief of air staff, Idriss Amine; type in French, one of Chad's official languages; and was written on General Amine's official letterhead, two US officials said. They said it was not sent through official diplomatic channels, which would be the typical method of dealing with such matters.
Current and former U.S. officials said the letter was CNN reported the news earliercould be a negotiating tactic by some members of the military and government to pressure Washington into a more favorable deal before the May election.
Unlike the departure of American troops from Niger, the withdrawal from Chad is likely to be temporary while diplomats determine whether a so-called status of forces agreement can be reached, U.S. officials said. new forces and, if so, whether American military advisers will return to Chad. Barring last-minute diplomatic developments, American troops are expected to begin leaving this weekend and complete their departure for Germany by May 1, two US officials said.
While France, a former colonial power in the region, has a much larger military presence in Chad, the United States also relies on the country as a reliable security partner.
Chad's presidential guard is one of the best trained and equipped in the semi-arid belt of Africa known as the Sahel. The country played host military exercises conducted by the United States. Officials at the Pentagon's Africa Command said Chad is a key partner in the effort to engage several countries in the Lake Chad basin to fight Boko Haram.
“U.S. Africa Command remains dedicated to building lasting partnerships with Chad and other African nations in the Sahel to address shared security concerns and help advance a future peace and prosperity in the region,” General Michael E. Langley, head of the Command, said during a visit to Chad in January, according to a statement from command.
During the trip, General Langley met with General Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud, Chad's army chief of staff, and other leaders, the statement said. Discussions focused on regional security challenges and Chadian efforts to counter violent extremism in the Sahel.
Mahamat Adamou Contributed reporting from Ndjamena, Chad.
