Niger base loss leaves US blind to Sahel terror groups, sources claim

First on Fox: American forces are trying to fight Al-Qaeda and ISIS jihadist organizations People in Niger and some other West African countries in the terror-torn Sahel region are said to be “completely blind,” following what a former senior State Department official told Fox News Digital was a policy proposal developed by the Biden administration.

A US military source who spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital claimed that the Pentagon, when it tries to respond to serious incidents such as the kidnapping of an American citizen on October 21, faces a “black hole.”

The United States had two air bases in Niger until September last year. American reconnaissance drones It operates from bases, using high-tech cameras to peer through dense forests to locate terrorist groups, and is believed to be involved in locating another US citizen from Niger who was kidnapped in 2020, during the first Trump administration. Washington sent Seal Team Six to successfully rescue that citizen.

According to the military source, Niger wanted Washington to maintain its bases in Niger. But in March last year, Niger complained about the “condescending attitude” of a US delegation sent by the Biden administration to Niger, and ordered all US base personnel to leave.

Sources: An American missionary was kidnapped in Niger by suspected Islamic militants

General Abderrahmane Tiani (second from left), head of Niger’s military regime, greets thousands of people who gathered in Niamey’s largest stadium to begin celebrations marking the first anniversary of his coming to power after the July 26, 2023 coup that ousted civilian President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 204. (Bourima Hama/AFP via Getty Images)

Niger government spokesman Amadou Adramani appeared on national television after the meeting, on March 16, and complained that officials of the previous administration had not followed diplomatic protocol, adding that “Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deprive the sovereign Nigerien people of the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships.”

Adramani continued: “The government of Niger also strongly denounces the condescending stance accompanied by the threat of retaliation from the head of the American delegation towards the government and people of Niger.”

Mary “Molly” Fee, then Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Biden administrationHe was assigned to lead the American team in its meeting with Niger’s military leadership. Several sources reported that, in her capacity as head of the delegation, she called on the country to stop dealing with Russia and Iran, or face sanctions.

One source told Fox News Digital that she “torched” Niger’s leaders at the meeting, adding that “the noise got us kicked out.” The Washington Post She also stated that Nigerian leaders were particularly upset by her remarks.

On Saturday, Fee, now retired, told Fox News Digital: “It’s a classic case of blaming the messenger if you don’t like the message.”

An expert warns that critical hours will pass with the possibility that the kidnappers will transfer the American missionary mission to Niger

FILE – In this file photo taken Monday, April 16, 2018, U.S. and Niger flags are raised side by side at base camp for Air Forces and other personnel supporting the construction of Niger Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger. The United States has handed over its last military base in Niger to the country’s authorities, the US Department of Defense and Niger’s Ministry of Defense announced in a joint statement on Monday, August 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Carly Beach, File)

Faye said she was following Biden administration policy, saying: “I am a career diplomat with over 30 years of experience, and I was leading an interagency delegation sent to share a proposal developed and approved by the White House. The Nigerian junta rejected our offer and used a misogynistic trope to deflect legitimate concerns about their behavior.”

Within months of the V delegation meeting with Nigerien leaders, all US personnel and their drones had left Niger, leaving Washington with, as the military source claimed, “without eyes in the sky.”

This was led by the then commander of US Africa Command, Marine Corps General (AFRICOM). Michael Langley“Since we left Niger in September last year, we have noticed a rise in attacks by violent extremist organizations, not only in Niger but across the Sahel region to include Nigeria as well, and extending to Burkina Faso and Mali,” he told military commanders at the African Chiefs of Defense Conference in May.

The general added that terrorist groups had increased their capabilities and “the proliferation of weapons,” concluding that “unfortunately, with our withdrawal from the region, we have lost our ability to closely monitor these terrorist groups.”

Russian mercenaries replace Western forces as ISIS rises in Africa’s Sahel region

The US military source told Fox News Digital, “AFRICOM is severely resource constrained, with only one base in Djibouti, and some smaller forces in Somalia and Kenya. The Biden administration has continued to cut our budget… We are one of the biggest land blocs with all the problems – Russia, China, drugs, terrorism – but we make up less than 1% of the War Department budget.”

He added, “Since the previous administration made us lose access to Niger, the Americans and Western powers have been completely blind and unable to respond quickly to anything.”

President Joe Biden speaks during the Leaders – Partnership on Agenda 2063 session at the US-Africa Leaders Summit on December 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. The summit brings together heads of state, government officials, business leaders, and civil society to strengthen U.S.-Africa relations. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)

The source agrees that it is possible that Seal Team Six could be sent back to rescue a new American kidnapping victim. But first, he said, the rescue team needed to know where the victim was. “If we had stayed (in Niger), now… Niger would be safer, and we would have eyes in the sky to help find the American missionary… Now we don’t have anything in the way of resources.”

The source told us that the rescue operation is “difficult or impossible… We must first find the man.”

Analysts agree that, especially in the hot conditions in the Sahel, it is difficult for Washington’s other “eyes”, namely satellites, to be effective in tracking the victim.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs It issued the highest possible travel warning, saying “Do not travel to Niger for any reason due to crime, unrest, terrorism, health or kidnapping.”

Fox News Digital reached out to AFRICOM, the War Department, and the State Department on several occasions, but as of press time there had been no response.