Germany will build a military base in Niger to support the UN mission fighting jihadists in neighbouring Mali, Berlin's ambassador to Niamey said on Wednesday. ...
"Niger is a central partner for us in this respect (and) a key country in the fight against terrorism and illegal migration" from West Africa.
Niger is getting crowded. America is upgrading our presence there, too.
Sadly, there will be plenty to do in the region because Libya doesn't seem to be getting much better:
Libya's UN-backed unity government suffered a blow in its Tripoli base late Friday when a rival seized key offices in the capital and proclaimed the reinstatement of the former administration.
The Government of National Accord (GNA) is the centrepiece of Western hopes to stem an upsurge of jihadism in the North African nation and halt people trafficking across the Mediterranean that has led to thousands of drownings.
United States Army Africa has a lot of work to do.
Odds are, Sunni jihadis won't be the only problem that Germany and America will encounter in the region. Iran, too, is looking to cause problems:
With Boko Haram fading from the headlines Shia Islamic terrorism is becoming more visible. Iran backed groups were always advised (often via training in Iran) Nigerian Shia radicals to maintain a low profile, especially if Sunni Islamic terrorists were active. Since the 1980s Iran has been sponsoring (paying for) Nigerian Shia to make religious or educational visits to Iran where many were recruited to receive training in how to form political and para-military organizations. This low key approach paid off as there are now a lot of Nigerian Shia willing to defend Shia Islam in Nigeria with violence (organized or otherwise). This is another victory for the Iranian Quds Force (which supervises Iranian sponsored terrorism overseas). This Quds involvement became visible in 2010 when Nigeria reported to the UN that Iran had illegally smuggled weapons to Nigeria.
Strategypage has much more, so do read it all.
