Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Netanyahu: If Lebanese Army takes steps to disarm Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including phased reduction of Israeli military presence in Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Photojournalist Houssam Al-Masri martyred, reporters Hatem Omar, Mohammad Ashraf Salameh injured in Israeli strike on Nasser Medical Complex.
Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: We observed a state of confusion among the enemy's aircraft squadron after Yemeni air defenses intercepted the attack
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: The Yemeni air defense forces succeeded in neutralizing a squadron of enemy aircraft and prevented airstrikes on some governorates
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace

NYT: Guinean Soldiers Who Staged a Coup Underwent US Training

  • By Al Mayadeen
  • Source: The New York Times
  • 12 Sep 2021 00:12
5 Min Read

It all started from a coup d’état that ousted Guinea’s 83-year-old president, Alpha Condé, last Sunday, as an elite Guinean Special Forces unit stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry, amid intense gunfire. Afterward, events started to unfold.

  • x
  • NYT: Guinean soldiers responsible for the coup received US training
    NYT: Guinean soldiers responsible for the coup received US training

A coup d’état in Guinea

It all started from a coup d’état that ousted Guinea’s 83-year-old president, Alpha Condé, last Sunday, as an elite Guinean Special Forces unit stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry, amid intense gunfire. Hours later, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya announced himself as Guinea’s new leader.

The Americans knew the Colonel well, but how?

Green Berets; not so green

According to a report published in The New York Times, a team of about a dozen US Green Berets had been in Guinea since mid-July to train about 100 soldiers in a special forces unit led by Colonel Doumbouya. 

However, despite the fact that the training actually took place, American military officials have denied having anything to do with the ouster and said that they had no idea of what their trainees had in mind, claiming that Colonel Doumbouya and the other trainees accused of the coup had left in an armed convoy from that same base early on Sunday, in an insinuation that they slipped away while their instructors were sleeping.

“We do not have any information on how the apparent military seizure of power occurred, and had no prior indication of these events,” Bardha S. Azari, a spokeswoman for the US Africa Command, said in an email.

Going downhill

Things are about to get worse for the Americans, as video footage circulating in recent days showed smiling American military officers in the midst of a crowd of happy Guineans on September 5, the day the coup took place.

Related News

Guinea’s RPG to replace toppled President Conde

Individuals involved in Guinea-Bissau ‘attempted coup’ arrested

As a four-wheel-drive vehicle with Guinean soldiers perched on the back pushes through the crowd chanting “freedom,” one American appears to touch hands with cheering people.

US officials confirmed that the video showed Green Berets returning to the US Embassy on Sunday, but denied any implication of support for the coup. “The US government and military are not involved in this apparent military seizure of power in any way,” Azari, the spokesperson, said.

For many Guineans, the US role in the coup was just one factor in a week overwhelmed with change under the leadership of Colonel Doumbouya.

Who is Doumboya? How is he linked to “Israel”?

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, 41, is now the second-youngest leader of an African state. He served for years in the French Foreign Legion, took part in US military exercises, and was once a close ally of the Guinean President he himself overthrew. He also served in Afghanistan and Ivory Coast and completed a commando training course in “Israel”, according to his official biography.

The Colonel, after an hour-long gun battle outside the presidential palace on Sunday in which at least 11 people were killed, appeared on state television wearing sunglasses and draped in Guinea’s tricolor flag.

In sum, the president has been ousted by an officer whose career he once blessed, through a coup that was fueled by smoldering rivalries inside Guinea’s defense establishment, one of which involved Colonel Doumbouya.

The fact is US officials have known Colonel Doumbouya since the start of his rise. A photo posted on the US Embassy's Facebook page in October 2018 showed him standing with three US military officials outside the Embassy.

But on Friday, US officials said they were perplexed and did not know why he would choose to mount a coup at a moment when he was working closely with Americans.

However, this is not the first time that coups in Africa have cast a shadow over American training programs on the continent. As insurgents surged across Mali’s northern desert in 2012, US-trained commanders of the country’s elite army units defected at a critical time, taking troops, trucks, weapons, and their newfound skills to the enemy.

Do Guinea’s natural resources play any role in the unfolding events?

“If the Americans are involved in the putsch, it’s because of their mining interests,” said Diapharou Baldé, a teacher in Conakry — a reference to Guinea’s huge deposits of gold, iron ore, and bauxite, which is used to make aluminum.

So, wherever the truth over the coup lies, it goes without saying that Guinea has an abundance of natural resources: it is the source of several major rivers and has exceptional biodiversity. It also has the third of the world's bauxite reserves, as well as significant gold, diamond, and oil resources.

  • World's leading Bauxite proven reserves countries
    World's leading Bauxite proven reserves countries

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Guinea in 2020 ranked first in the world in bauxite reserves with about one-third of the world reserves, and second in the extraction of high-grade bauxite, the aluminum ore. The Bauxite mining industry provides for about 80% of Guinea’s foreign exchange. Diamonds and gold are mined and exported on a large scale as well, providing additional foreign currency.

  • coup in Guinea
  • Alpha Condé
  • Colonel Mamady Doumbouya
  • Guinea

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift camp along the beach in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)

Hamas, other factions accept Egypt-Qatar ceasefire proposal: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 18 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS