UK Forces have taken part in US AFRICOM operations for decades: report
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Documents obtained by Declassified UK reveal the UK has been taking part in US Africa command operations for decades while simultaneously denying any presence or operation on African soil.
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Photo provided by the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and US Air Force, US Airmen load pallets onto a US C-130J Super Hercules bound for Somalia at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. (AP)
The British military has reportedly played a discreet yet "significant role" in the operations of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) over an extended period, as revealed by documents recently obtained and revealed by Declassified UK. These documents, acquired through freedom of information requests, indicate that numerous British officers have been embedded with their US counterparts in Djibouti, contributing to operational planning in Somalia for a decade, at least.
While the majority of officers' names have been redacted from the documents, reported Declassified UK, the paper did make mention of Sergeant Carina Reeves.
According to the files, Reeves served as the "Intelligence Country Analyst" at Camp Lemonnier, the US base in Djibouti. Reeves is noted to have played a pivotal role in training and mentoring, between 2014 and 2015, over 50 intelligence US analysts from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine.
It is worth noting that Declassified underscored that it had attempted to reach Reeves but the latter has failed to respond.
Another name that was not redacted is that of Colonel Hugh Baker of the British Army who from 2020 to 2021 served as the Director of Strategy and Plans at CJTF-HOA.
Baker became renowned for describing himself, back in 2020, in a public-relations piece by AFRICOM as "an American officer who happens to wear a British uniform and speaks with an English accent."
According to Declassified UK, Baker has since retired from the military.
A report by Action on Armed Violence, a UK-based research charity, details the various covert activities of #UK special forces that have been observed in media leaks around the world. pic.twitter.com/OB7LpHMLVW
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 26, 2023
Declassified UK shed light on the extensive utilization of the British-controlled Ascension Island, located off the African coast, as a crucial operational base for the US Air Force and Space Force and emphasized that approximately 40% of the intelligence analysts affiliated with AFRICOM operate from the Royal Air Force Base Molesworth, in London.
Among the 18 non-African countries involved in supporting US military operations across Africa, the UK emerges as a leading contributor, surpassing nations such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey.
It is important to note that the documents examined by Declassified dubbed the officers from the aforementioned countries as "coalition" personnel.
In a usual proclamation, AFRICOM spokesperson Kelly Cahalan claimed that the US forces "do not have ‘coalition’ forces in Africa," acknowledging that there is "a number of non-African liaison officers assigned to the command."
Pentagon misled Congress about size, scope of US airbases in Africa
Earlier in September, it was revealed that over 1,000 US troops have been stationed in their Nigerien outposts after the coup in Niger broke out, not to mention being at the US largest drone base in the region, Air Base 201 in Agadez.
The base, having cost a total of $250 million since its construction in 2016, represents a significant surveillance hub for the US in West Africa, but AFRICOM chief Gen. Michael Langley claimed in his testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees in March that it was “minimal” and “low cost".
He described two “enduring” US forward operating sites in Africa: Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti and a longtime logistics hub on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. “The Command also operates out of 12 other posture locations throughout Africa,” he said, adding, “These locations have minimal permanent U.S. presence and have low-cost facilities and limited supplies for these dedicated Americans to perform critical missions and quickly respond to emergencies.”
Experts believe Langley misled Congress by undermining the size of the US footprint in Africa as at least 18 outposts, in addition to Camp Lemonnier and Ascension Island, exist in AFRICOM’s “posture” on the continent, according to AFRICOM’s secret 2022 theater posture plan, as seen by The Intercept.
A US official familiar with the current footprint on the continent confirmed that the same 20 bases are operating while another two locations in Somalia and Ghana were “under evaluation".
Read more: RS: The fate of US troops in Niger
