US threatens to exit Niger as Russia's Wagner Team revels in army coup attempt

Joel Gehrke

July 31, 04:00 AM July 31, 04:00 AM

President Joe Biden has threatened to minimize armed forces ties with Niger if a coup in opposition to the West African democracy’s incumbent president proceeds, in accordance to U.S. officials nervous to reduce his bodyguards from keeping ability.

“We remind these trying this electric power seize by power that an overthrow of a democratically elected president ... would location the U.S.’s sizeable cooperation with the federal government of Niger at risk,” White Residence Countrywide Protection Council spokesman John Kirby explained to reporters Friday. “Specifically, a armed forces takeover might bring about the United States to stop stability and other cooperation with the governing administration of Niger, jeopardizing present stability and non-safety partnerships.”

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The warning reflects U.S. hopes that the overthrow of Nigerien President Mahmoud Bazoum still can be averted, regardless of presidential guard Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani’s announcement that he has seized electric power. Nevertheless the nature of U.S. leverage in Niger also factors to the large stakes of the political disaster, as the withdrawal of American troops could simplicity stress on terrorist corporations and pave the way for Russia’s Wagner Team paramilitary forces to acquire root in a state they have very long coveted.

“After the coup in Burkina Faso in October last year, there were Telegram accounts joined to Wagner that have been brazenly stating ‘Niger is our subsequent focus on,’” Africa Centre for Strategic Scientific tests research director Joseph Siegle advised the Washington Examiner. “Russia has been interested in seeing a military takeover, which probably presents an chance for them to get extra impact.”

Tchiani is perceived to have introduced the coup in get to protect against Bazoum from changing him as head of the presidential guards, a place he has held given that 2011.

“Such a takeover would reinforce violent extremist organizations, undercut steadiness in the state, and exacerbate regional insecurity and violence,” Kirby explained. “Further, a military takeover would undermine Niger’s authority as a regional chief — and they are. The United States and Niger’s associates in Africa, as nicely as other worldwide associates, are closely looking at this problem to decide our upcoming steps collectively."

Tchiani’s maneuver has drawn condemnation from the African Union and major Western powers, but Russian authorities have taken a extra ambiguous posture. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov referred to it as “an anti-constitutional act,” but claimed that it is analogous to the Ukrainian movement that culminated in the Ukrainian parliament voting to get rid of the pro-Russian president from electric power just after security forces fired on protesters in 2014.

"This has practically nothing to do with Russia. We hardly ever interfere in [other country’s] inner affairs,” Russian Deputy Overseas Minister Mikhail Bogdanov mentioned Friday, per state-operate TASS. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has took place in Africa ... And I am worried that it will not be the previous. This kind of are the inner processes there.”

But Russia’s Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly hailed the Nigerien general’s emergence as a defeat for the West.

"What happened in Niger is absolutely nothing other than the wrestle of the persons of Niger with their colonizers,” Prigozhin is reputed to have reported in an audio message printed by Wagner-aligned social media accounts. “Thousands of Wagner fighters are capable of bringing purchase and of destroying terrorists and of not letting them to harm the area populations of these states.”

Russian point out media pundits also implied that the coup could be connected to Bazoum’s refusal to send any Nigerien officers to attend Putin’s summit.

"You really don't go to St. Petersburg, you get a coup,” as a person media identity claimed Friday.

Prigozhin’s forces have benefited from several coups in African states in the latest decades, which include amongst Niger’s neighbors. President Joe Biden’s administration blacklisted 3 officials from Mali on the grounds that they have enabled Prigozhin to “expand Wagner’s presence in Mali due to the fact December 2021,” with dolorous penalties in Mali and outside of. And Niger, with its wealth of all-natural means — which includes “about 5% of environment mining output from Africa's highest-quality uranium ores,” for every the Entire world Nuclear Affiliation, could present a money and geopolitical bonanza.

“The deeply disturbing pattern of military coups in the region are unable to be tolerated,” Senate International Relations Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) explained in a joint assertion with Idaho Sen. James Risch, the top Republican on the panel. “The United States will have to choose swift action to hold anti-democratic forces accountable and ship a apparent signal that attacks on constitutional democracy will not be satisfied with impunity.”

Prigozhin’s operations in Africa are of large value to the Russian government, as evidenced by his attendance at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit with African leaders in St. Petersburg this week, in spite of his quick but mutinous march on Moscow.

“Without investing incredibly a lot on the continent, Wagner has greatly magnified Russian influence by means of its irregular techniques,” Siegle claimed. “It just would be unstrategic for Russia to pull the rug out from less than Wagner in Africa, because they really do not have something comparable that can create the influence that they’re having.”

The coup in Mali, and Wagner Group’s subsequent emergence as a crucial electricity participant, set the stage for the scuttling of France’s counterterrorism functions in the place, as perfectly as the new regime’s latest desire that United Nations peacekeepers leave the state. Some of the 2,400 French troops in Mali had been redeployed to Niger.

“France does not recognize the authorities that emerged from the armed forces coup led by Normal Tchiani,” the French International Ministry reported Friday. "We reiterate in the strongest terms the intercontinental community’s crystal clear requires calling for the speedy restoration of constitutional get and the democratically elected civilian governing administration in Niger.”

There are “a small bit far more than a thousand” U.S. military personnel in Niger, as Kirby set it Friday, and Biden’s staff is hoping that Nigerien authorities will regard their withdrawal as a bug, not a element.

“We've produced crystal clear to leaders in Niger that our safety cooperation is predicated on rule of legislation and aid for democracy and civilian control,” Kirby reported. “And yet again, as I said at the really starting, we however believe that you will find room for diplomacy here.”

Rwanda flooding: More than 100 killed in natural disaster

Conrad Hoyt

May 03, 04:46 AM May 03, 04:46 AM

At least 109 people are dead in western Rwanda after heavy rain caused massive flooding in the region early Wednesday morning, according to authorities.

"The death toll from last night's heavy rains and floods continues to rise, with at least 109 people now confirmed dead in Western and Northern Provinces," the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency tweeted via its official account, alongside a video.

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The video shows water racing down a destroyed muddy road with battered houses in the background.

“It rained heavily all night, causing immense suffering in the districts of Ngororero, Rubavu, Nyabihu, Rutsiro, and Karongi,” Francois Habitegeko, governor of the Western Province, told Reuters. “The soil was already soaked from the previous days of rain, which caused landslides that closed roads.”

Habitegeko added that others were wounded and the flooding caused people to be trapped under their homes. He said emergency responders' main priority is to rescue those people.

According to the World Bank, extreme weather events such as floods and droughts have increased in Rwanda over the past 30 years.

Sudan's army and rival force clash, wider conflict feared

April 15, 05:33 PM April 15, 05:33 PM

KHARTOUM, Sudan (WHD) — Sudan's military and a powerful paramilitary force engaged in fierce fighting Saturday in the capital and elsewhere in country, dealing a new blow to hopes for a transition to democracy and raising fears of a wider conflict. A doctors’ group said at least three people were killed and dozens injured.

The clashes capped months of heightened tensions between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces group. Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by an October 2021 military coup.

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After a day of heavy fighting, the military ruled out negotiations with the RSF, instead calling for the dismantling of what it called a “rebellious militia.” The tough language signaled that the conflict between the former allies, who jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup, was likely to continue.

The fighting erupted early Saturday. The sound of heavy firing could be heard throughout the day across the capital, Khartoum, and its sister city of Omdurman, where the military and the RSF have amassed tens of thousands of troops since the coup.

Witnesses said fighters from both sides fired from armored vehicles and from machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks in densely populated areas. Some tanks were seen in Khartoum. The military said it launched strikes from planes and drones at RSF positions in and around the capital.

As night fell, residents said they still heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions in different parts of Khartoum, including around the military’s headquarters and other other bases.

Residents described chaotic scenes. "Fire and explosions are everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor in a public hospital in Omdurman. “All are running and seeking shelter.”

“We haven’t seen such battles in Khartoum before,” said Khartoum resident Abdel-Hamid Mustafa.

One of the flashpoints was Khartoum International Airport. There was no formal announcement that the airport was closed, but major airlines suspended their flights. This included Sudan-bound flights from Egypt and Saudi Arabia which turned back after nearly landing at the airport, flight tracking data showed.

Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its aircraft was involved in what it called “an accident.” Video showed the plane on fire on the tarmac. Another plane also appeared to have caught fire. Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a SkyUp Airlines Boeing 737. SkyUp is a Kyiv, Ukraine-based airline. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said two civilians were killed at the airport, without specifying the circumstances. The syndicate said another man was shot to death in the state of North Kordofan. The BBC said one of its reporters was stopped by soldiers, taken to the military headquarters and beaten.

The leaders of the armed forces and the RSF traded blame for starting Saturday's fighting and offered conflicting accounts of who was in control of key installations.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, commander of Sudan’s military, told the Qatar-based satellite news network Al Jazeera that RSF troops first “harassed” the military south of Khartoum, triggering the clashes.

Burhan accused the RSF of entering Khartoum airport and setting fire to some planes. He also said all strategic facilities including the military’s headquarters and the Republican palace, the seat of Sudan's presidency, are under his forces’ control. He threatened to deploy more troops to Khartoum from across the county.

The head of the RSF, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, accused Burhan of starting the battle by surrounding RSF troops. "This criminal, he forced this battle upon us,” he said.

Dagalo told Al Jazeera that he believes that in “the next few days” it would be over.

The RSF alleged that its forces controlled strategic locations in Khartoum and the northern city of Merowe some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital. The military dismissed the claims as “lies.”

The fighting comes after months of escalating tensions between the generals and years of political unrest after the 2021 coup. The tensions stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly break-up of a protest camp outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed over 120 protesters. Many groups have repeatedly called for holding them accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities linked to the Darfur conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats expressed extreme concern Saturday over the outbreak of violence. “We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilizations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; the Arab League chief, Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar all called for a cease-fire and for both parties to return to negotiations to settle their dispute. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called on those fighting in Sudan to exercise restraint and work toward a political solution in the county.

Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was ousted in the 2021 coup, warned of a possible regional conflict if the fighting escalates. “Shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video appeal to both sides posted on his Twitter account.

Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank and a former U.S. diplomat, said he was not surprised by the fighting.

“This has been coming for many years," he said.

Hudson voiced concern the conflict could become wider and more prolonged, calling on the United States to form a coalition of regional countries to pressure military and RSF leaders to de-escalate fighting.

Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, and the Saudi ambassador in Sudan, Ali Bin Hassan Jaffar, were in contact with Dagalo and Burhan to try to end the violence, said a U.N. official who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Meanwhile, Chad announced that it is closing its land borders with Sudan until further notice because of the fighting.

The clashes centered in Khartoum but also took place in other areas across the country including the Northern province, the conflict-ravaged Darfur region, and the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, a military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

WATCH: Kaylee McGhee White says Harris visit to Africa could dump her off 2024 ticket

Heather Hamilton

March 27, 06:27 AM March 27, 06:27 AM

Washington Examiner’s Kaylee McGhee White said the Biden administration is not taking China’s threat to the United States seriously.

McGhee White, the editor of Restoring America, questioned the Biden administration’s choice to send Vice President Kamala Harris to Africa.

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“It is such an important foreign policy mission because of China’s influence on the African continent,” McGee White said while appearing on Fox & Friends First. “But it really tells you all you need to know about how much the Biden administration actually cares about strengthening these ties that they are sending Kamala Harris to go and do it.”

“We also know that the Biden administration doesn’t actually take the China threat seriously,” she added. “The president is on record multiple times calling China a competitor rather than naming it as an adversary. So, the question is whether this administration has the moral clarity to name the threat and then take action if necessary.”

McGhee White said there is little that the vice president can say during her trip to Africa that could make a difference.

“I think that the best thing that Kamala could possibly do is not say anything at all. She has learned the hard way that the more that she gets out in front of the camera, the worse things get for the Biden administration. Maybe they know that. Maybe this is a way for her to finally get dumped off the 2024 ticket.”

McGhee White also highlighted the need to not only address China’s influence abroad, such as in African countries, but within the U.S., including Chinese investments and influence in American farmland, infrastructure, and TikTok.

“There are a host of reasons why TikTok should not be allowed to operate in the U.S.,” McGhee White said. “Data privacy violations, the lies about the data privacy violations, the spying on U.S. journalists, the harmful mental health effects on teenage girls, the deliberate algorithms that push teenagers toward violent propaganda. These are all reasons why lawmakers have to take this serious.”

She added that pushback from Democratic lawmakers, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), who recently posted her first TikTok video in defense of the social media app, likens them to the rationale of immature teenagers.

“There are only two demographics who are notoriously irresponsible, immature, and unable to see the long-term consequences of their actions,” McGhee White noted. “And those are teenagers and Democratic members of Congress, and conveniently those are the only two demographics who oppose banning TikTok.”

African population growth could create opportunity or crisis zone

Joel Gehrke

December 27, 04:00 AM December 27, 04:00 AM

Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum is on a mission to build about 46,000 schools in his country, which has one of lowest literacy rates in the world — and a population expected to nearly triple by 2050.

“Success is very slow,” Bazoum acknowledged in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “We're still at the beginning stages of this activity. So it will take some time. And, we need more resources.”

The experience of Niger, a French-speaking country of 25 million West Africans with a literacy rate below 14%, is an extreme case but still emblematic of a wider dynamic across the continent. The population of sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by about 1 billion people by 2050. In that time frame, Nigeria, the English-speaking country between Niger and the Atlantic coastline, will see its population grow from about 216 million to 375 million people, according to U.N. estimates.

“The people are the wealth of Africa,” United States Institute of Peace senior fellow Tom Sheehy told the Washington Examiner. “They've got a lot of natural resources, but ultimately, if they're going to develop, it’s going to be through human capital. And it’s a big, big test educating people in a resource shortage.”

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Nigeria alone is on pace to stand as one of the four most populous countries in the world by 2050, according to the United Nations. The human and geopolitical potential contained in that data can be inferred from the international heavyweights that also appear atop the population rankings — China, India, and the United States. Such growth could “certainly” represent an advantage for African societies almost unrivaled in the world but only in the right circumstances.

“On condition that we really focus on education and development of young people by providing them with the skills they need,” Bazoum said. “But if you have a lot of people that are uneducated, they constitute a danger. Seen from that angle, the future of Africa is not bright because if the population is not educated, the population is not an asset for Africa. Rather, it can be a handicap for Africa.”

An effective education system can affect the character of civil society, he added. “Certainly, education is key in creating an informed society, aware of its rights, its duties,” Bazoum said.

“And, of course, the key element for a democracy to thrive is to have well-educated people that know their rights but [also] know what they should do and what they should not do and that we create a national consciousness in terms of citizenship.”

With that in mind, education would seem like a high-value sector for countries keen to support African development or cultivate influence on the continent. The world’s global heavyweights, including China and the United States, recognize Africa has a major economic and geopolitical frontier — but there persists a paradoxical lack of investment in African education, at least in comparison to other forms of engagement.

“I don't think that foresight is there to make those investments in human capital in developing countries in Africa,” said Dr. Malancha Chakrabarty, an expert in African development at the India-based Observer Research Foundation. “There's a tendency to call it social sector ... the relatively softer things which everybody believes is nice, but very little sums of money or resources are actually put into it.”

Bazoum credited the U.S. with contributing to infrastructure development in Niger, such as the construction of roads and the modernization of the agriculture sector, which he listed alongside education as a top priority for his administration. Several European countries, especially France, have provided more direct assistance to his education program.

“For the Nigerien government, education and vocational training are also two priorities to develop human capital. To this end, France is financing several actions in Niger,” a French official said.

“The ‘Women Teachers and Girls' Education in Africa’ initiative: This project is based on the establishment of a virtuous circle whereby African women teachers and education managers develop professional, technical, and social skills that strengthen their leadership,” the French official added. “In turn, they will be able to serve as role models for girls, supporting them in their learning and developing their capacity. The project targets nine countries in Africa, including Niger.”

Education does appear among the priorities to benefit from the $55 billion in aid that President Joe Biden touted at the U.S.-Africa Leader Summit in Washington.

“They involve a wide range of sectors that reflect our shared interest and renewed partnerships — sectors such as food security, health, climate, trade and investment, economic growth, and also education, peace and security, and democracy,” State Department Undersecretary Jose Fernandez told journalists on Tuesday. "It also aims to leverage the best of America that we have to offer — our civil society, our private sector, our government institutions — in order to partner with African countries to meet today’s defining challenges and opportunities.”

The scale of population growth in Africa raises the possibility for countries there to alter the balance of political and economic power in a world that pays more attention to the Indo-Pacific, with its powerhouse economies and risk of war between the U.S. and China — but only if allies and development partners increase their attention to “the impact of education on human development,” according to Chakrabarty.

“At the end of the day, any development rests on the quality of the people of that particular country,” she said. “You might have short spurts of growth, and that growth could come from any ... sector of the economy. But true development or long-term development is impossible without serious and adequate spending on education.”