Latest news with #GenMichaelLangley
BBC News
7 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
How Trump's Africa strategy may become a double-edged sword
With US President Donald Trump on a cost-cutting warpath since starting his second term, aid to Africa has been slashed and now defence spending is in his sights - but could these approaches cost more in the long run?The phrase his administration presses on Europe to assume more of the costs of its own defence is "burden sharing". This is the challenge that Washington is now throwing down to African armies too - and they are far less comfortably resourced to take it having paid dearly in lives and money, in the struggle to hold back the spreading reach of jihadist armed groups across the Sahel, the Lake Chad basin and Somalia over recent years, they could be forgiven for feeling that they already carry much of the burden - and for the sake not just of their own continent but the wider international community which has lost more than 80 soldiers in jihadist attacks since the start of the year, is just one example. "The epicentre of terrorism on the globe" is how the Sahel was described a few days ago by Gen Michael Langley, who as head of US Africa Command (Africom) oversees the American military presence south of the briefings and interviews over the past few weeks, he has graphically outlined the threat that jihadist groups will present if their push southward towards the Gulf of Guinea succeeds."One of the terrorists' new objectives is gaining access to West African coasts. If they secure access to the coastline, they can finance their operations through smuggling, human trafficking and arms trading. This not only puts African nations at risk but also raises the chance of threats reaching US shores."Gen Langley has admitted that the current upsurge in militant attacks is "deeply concerning".Yet he has also repeatedly hammered home a core message: the US is minded to rein back its own sub-Saharan military operations, leaving local armies to take on more of the defence 6,500 personnel are currently deployed in Africa by the US military and a 2019 list published by Africom mentioned 13 "enduring" American bases across the continent and a further 17 more temporary some of these installations, including the purpose-built drone base at Agadez in Niger, have already been shut down, in particular after military juntas seized power in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso since it now looks as if the once-ambitious American operational footprint will be pruned back quite a lot we will see more air power deployed from offshore to hit militant targets - Gen Langley says there have been 25 strikes in Somalia this year, double the 2024 total - but a much thinner permanent on-the-ground military presence."Some things that we used to do, we may not do anymore," he recently told a conference in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, that brought together chiefs of defence staff and other senior officers from 37 countries."Our aim is not to serve as a permanent crutch, but to achieve US security objectives that overlap with our partners. We should be able to help African nations build the self-reliance they need to independently confront terrorism and insurgencies."In the bluntness of his language Gen Langley reflects the stark change of outlook and policy that has come from January's change of power at the White House."We have set our priorities now - protecting the homeland."What matters to the no-longer-so-new Trump II administration, the general made clear in a Pentagon publication last week, is fighting terrorists - particularly those who might attack the priorities are countering the spread of Chinese military influence across Africa and protecting freedom of maritime navigation through key trade choke points such as the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. In some respects, the focus on training and capacity building that Gen Langley now expounds is not so very different from the approach of previous American administrations, Republican as well as lauds the National Guard State Partnership Program, through which individual US states have been helping to build the capacity of government security forces across Africa and other parts of the world - for the past three too is pursuing this approach, with the closure of bases in Chad and Senegal, while those in Ivory Coast and Gabon have been handed over to their governments, with only small French training teams left behind to work alongside African in other respects, the Trump administration's Africa strategy represents a drastic shrinkage in outlook and - critics might argue - a conscious retreat from addressing the factors that drive instability, conflict and terrorism, particularly in the Sahel, which is among the poorest regions on the under President Joe Biden the US looked far beyond the military realm alone in its efforts to counter the both the growing reach of jihadist groups and other sources of violence. And Gen Langley, as Africom chief, was an articulate exponent of this much broader last year, in an interview with the Associated Press news agency, he outlined what he described as a "whole of government" response to the proliferation of conflict, stressing the importance of good governance and action to tackle the fragilities of African states and the impacts of desertification, crop failure and environmental approach openly recognised that recruitment by armed groups and the spread of violence is fuelled not only by jihadist ideology, but also by a host of social and economic factors, including the stresses now afflicting farming and pastoralist Langley himself does not seem to have abandoned this analysis, recently noting how Ivory Coast had countered the jihadist threat to its northern border areas by complementing security force deployments with development could equally have pointed to the success of a similar approach pursued by the president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, before he was deposed in the July 2023 coup. But of course, these days Africom must operate within the context of a US foreign policy radically reshaped under are even rumours that it could be downgraded to become a subsidiary of the US command in Europe and Gen Langley suggests African governments should tell Washington what they thought of this the separate Africa unit at the radically slimmed down National Security Council at the White House is reportedly being wound up and integrated into the Middle East-North Africa director, Gen Jami Shawley, an Africa specialist appointed to the role only in March, has now been assigned to more general strategic Congress this week, Gen Langley warned about China's and Russia's African ambitions: Beijing's agility at capitalising on the US's absence and Moscow's ability to seize military opportunities created by chaos and these concerns, some might wonder if the general is discreetly signally his doubts about a slimmed down Africa under the "efficiency drive" led, until recently, by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the American government's main international development agencies, USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, have been effectively shut spine of the new US economic engagement with Africa is now private sector trade and business generally needs to operate in a stable and secure context - which Africa's most fragile and violence-prone regions cannot in winding up the American development agencies, the Trump administration has stepped aside from funding the rural projects and social programmes that sought to address land and water pressures and lack of economic opportunity, the key drivers of conflict - and the jihadist groups' recruitment of frustrated rural young the fragile regions that are the main sources of jihadist violence the US response is reduced to the purely military, and now it is seeking to shift even most of that on to the shoulders of African states that already struggle to respond adequately to a plethora of challenges and Melly is a consulting fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House in London. You may also be interested in: The region with more 'terror deaths' than rest of world combinedFreed captive tells BBC of life in West African jihadist baseWhy Trump is on the warpath in Somalia'My wife fears sex, I fear death' - impacts of the USAID freezeTrump's tariffs could be death knell for US-Africa trade pact Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Fox News
29-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
U.S. Africa commander highlights terror growth in Sahel and competition with China for influence
A top United States military general warned Thursday that terror groups in Africa are ramping up their ability to conduct attacks in the U.S. Gen. Michael Langley, the four-star Marine General who leads U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), said the Sahel region of the continent is now the "flashpoint of prolonged conflict and growing instability. It is the epicenter of terrorism on the globe." Several terror groups have expanded drastically in the last three years. Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is three times the size it was in 2022, he said, and has spread across Mali, Burkina Faso, and parts of Niger, which the U.S. military pulled out of last year. Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, a faction affiliated with Al-Qaeda, is now four times the size it was in 2022, expanding mainly in Burkina Faso. "We're keeping a good eye on this because they could have the capacity to attack the homeland," Langley said in a call with reporters. "Throughout my travels across West Africa and through dialog here at the conference, the concerns shared by my peers match my own," he added. "One of the terrorist's key goals now is access to the west coast of Africa. If they gain access to the vast coastline, they can diversify their revenue streams and evolve their tactics, more easily exporting terrorism to American shores." He noted that the terror groups engage in illicit activity like smuggling, human trafficking and arms trading, which fund their nefarious actions and destabilize the region. U.S. forces over the weekend conducted an airstrike against the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab in Somalia. The East African country has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab. The U.S. is in a race with China and Russia to gain influence and trust with the local governments of several African nations to help protect citizens from terror groups. Langley said there is an increasing concern about the number of African soldiers going to Beijing for military training and replicating a U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. "They're trying to replicate what we do best in our IMET program," said Langley. "And then they also said they're going to increase security and training in a number of countries. So, they're trying to replicate what we do."
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US military shifts messaging in Africa, telling allies to prepare to stand more on their own
TAN TAN, Morocco (AP) — The U.S. military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies' underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. At African Lion, its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: 'We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations,' Gen. Michael Langley said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'There needs to be some burden sharing," Langley, the U.S. military's top official in Africa, said on Friday, the final day of the exercise. For four weeks, troops from more than 40 countries rehearsed how to confront threats by air, land, and sea. They flew drones, simulated close-quarters combat and launched satellite-guided rockets in the desert. Maneuvers mirrored previous editions of African Lion, now in its 25th year. But mostly gone now is language that emphasizes ideas the U.S. once argued set it apart from Russia and China. Messaging about the interwoven work of defense, diplomacy and development once formed the core of Washington's security pitch. In their place now are calls for helping allies build capacity to manage their own security, which Langley said was a priority for President Donald Trump's Defense Department. 'We have our set priorities now — protecting the homeland. And we're also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas,' he said, referencing U.S. support for Sudan. The shift comes as the U.S. military makes moves to "build a leaner, more lethal force,' including potentially cutting military leadership positions in places like Africa, where America's rivals continue to deepen their influence. China has launched its own expansive training program for African militaries. Russian mercenaries are recalibrating and cementing their role as security partner of choice throughout North, West and Central Africa. In an interview a year ago, Langley emphasized what U.S. military officials have long called a 'whole of government approach" to countering insurgency. Even amid setbacks, he defended the U.S. approach and said force alone couldn't stabilize weak states and protect U.S. interests against the risk of violence spilling out. 'I've always professed that AFRICOM is just not a military organization,' Langley said last year. He called good governance an 'enduring solution to a number of layered threats — whether it be desertification, whether it be crop failure from changing environments, or whether it be from violent extremist organizations.' The 'whole of government approach" no longer occupies the same place at the center of U.S. messaging, though Langley said holistic efforts have worked in places like Ivory Coast, where development and defense had reduced attacks by jihadi groups near its volatile northern border. But such successes aren't a pattern. 'I've seen progression and I've seen regression,' said Langley, who is scheduled to exit his post later this year. As the US steps back, insurgencies gain ground The U.S. military's new posture comes even though many African armies remain ill-equipped and insurgent groups expand. 'We see Africa as the epicenter for both al-Qaida and Islamic State,' a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month, noting both groups had growing regional affiliates and the Islamic State group had shifted command and control to Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue publicly. Africa has rarely ranked high on the Pentagon's list of priorities, but the U.S. has still spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security assistance and has roughly 6,500 Africa Command personnel on the continent. In some regions, the U.S. faces direct competition from Russia and China. In others, regional affiliates of al-Qaida and the IS still require direct military action, Langley said. The messaging shift from 'whole of government' to more burden-sharing comes as fears grow that rising violence could spread beyond hotspots where insurgents have expanded influence and found vacuums in which they can consolidate power. Parts of of both East and West Africa have emerged as epicenters of violence. In 2024, more than half of the world's terrorism victims were killed across West Africa's Sahel, a vast desert territory ruled by military juntas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group, which compiles yearly terrorism statistics, also found Somalia accounted for 6% of all terrorism-related deaths, making it the deadliest for terrorism in Africa outside the Sahel. Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has escalated airstrikes in Somalia, targeting IS and al-Shabab operatives. But despite air support, Somalia's army remains far from being able to maintain security on the ground, Langley acknowledged. 'The Somali National Army is trying to find their way,' Langley said, adding that they had regained some footing after years of setbacks. 'There are some things they still need on the battlefield to be very effective.' Similarly in West Africa, the notion that states could soon have the capacity to counter such threats is a distant prospect, said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. Even before Western influence began to wane in the Sahel, needed military support was limited, threats remained active, and local militaries were left without the tools to confront them. Western powers with a presence in the Sahel have gradually scaled back their engagement, either by choice or after being pushed out by increasingly hostile governments. 'Many of them do not have very strong air forces and are not able to monitor the movement of militants, especially in areas where roads are very difficult to traverse, the infrastructure is extremely poor,' Ochieng, who specializes in the Sahel and Great Power competition in Africa, said.
Washington Post
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
US military shifts messaging in Africa, telling allies to prepare to stand more on their own
TAN TAN, Morocco — The U.S. military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies' underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. At African Lion , its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: 'We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations,' Gen. Michael Langley said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The Independent
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
US military shifts messaging in Africa, telling allies to prepare to stand more on their own
The U.S. military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies' underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. At African Lion, its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: 'We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations,' Gen. Michael Langley said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'There needs to be some burden sharing," Langley, the U.S. military's top official in Africa, said on Friday, the final day of the exercise. For four weeks, troops from more than 40 countries rehearsed how to confront threats by air, land, and sea. They flew drones, simulated close-quarters combat and launched satellite-guided rockets in the desert. Maneuvers mirrored previous editions of African Lion, now in its 25th year. But mostly gone now is language that emphasizes ideas the U.S. once argued set it apart from Russia and China. Messaging about the interwoven work of defense, diplomacy and development once formed the core of Washington's security pitch. In their place now are calls for helping allies build capacity to manage their own security, which Langley said was a priority for President Donald Trump's Defense Department. 'We have our set priorities now — protecting the homeland. And we're also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas,' he said, referencing U.S. support for Sudan. The shift comes as the U.S. military makes moves to "build a leaner, more lethal force,' including potentially cutting military leadership positions in places like Africa, where America's rivals continue to deepen their influence. China has launched its own expansive training program for African militaries. Russian mercenaries are recalibrating and cementing their role as security partner of choice throughout North, West and Central Africa. In an interview a year ago, Langley emphasized what U.S. military officials have long called a 'whole of government approach" to countering insurgency. Even amid setbacks, he defended the U.S. approach and said force alone couldn't stabilize weak states and protect U.S. interests against the risk of violence spilling out. 'I've always professed that AFRICOM is just not a military organization,' Langley said last year. He called good governance an 'enduring solution to a number of layered threats — whether it be desertification, whether it be crop failure from changing environments, or whether it be from violent extremist organizations.' The 'whole of government approach" no longer occupies the same place at the center of U.S. messaging, though Langley said holistic efforts have worked in places like Ivory Coast, where development and defense had reduced attacks by jihadi groups near its volatile northern border. But such successes aren't a pattern. 'I've seen progression and I've seen regression,' said Langley, who is scheduled to exit his post later this year. As the US steps back, insurgencies gain ground The U.S. military's new posture comes even though many African armies remain ill-equipped and insurgent groups expand. 'We see Africa as the epicenter for both al-Qaida and Islamic State,' a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month, noting both groups had growing regional affiliates and the Islamic State group had shifted command and control to Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue publicly. Africa has rarely ranked high on the Pentagon's list of priorities, but the U.S. has still spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security assistance and has roughly 6,500 Africa Command personnel on the continent. In some regions, the U.S. faces direct competition from Russia and China. In others, regional affiliates of al-Qaida and the IS still require direct military action, Langley said. The messaging shift from 'whole of government' to more burden-sharing comes as fears grow that rising violence could spread beyond hotspots where insurgents have expanded influence and found vacuums in which they can consolidate power. Parts of of both East and West Africa have emerged as epicenters of violence. In 2024, more than half of the world's terrorism victims were killed across West Africa's Sahel, a vast desert territory ruled by military juntas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group, which compiles yearly terrorism statistics, also found Somalia accounted for 6% of all terrorism-related deaths, making it the deadliest for terrorism in Africa outside the Sahel. Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has escalated airstrikes in Somalia, targeting IS and al-Shabab operatives. But despite air support, Somalia's army remains far from being able to maintain security on the ground, Langley acknowledged. 'The Somali National Army is trying to find their way,' Langley said, adding that they had regained some footing after years of setbacks. 'There are some things they still need on the battlefield to be very effective.' Similarly in West Africa, the notion that states could soon have the capacity to counter such threats is a distant prospect, said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. Even before Western influence began to wane in the Sahel, needed military support was limited, threats remained active, and local militaries were left without the tools to confront them. Western powers with a presence in the Sahel have gradually scaled back their engagement, either by choice or after being pushed out by increasingly hostile governments. 'Many of them do not have very strong air forces and are not able to monitor the movement of militants, especially in areas where roads are very difficult to traverse, the infrastructure is extremely poor,' Ochieng, who specializes in the Sahel and Great Power competition in Africa, said.
