Nigerien military ruler Abdourahamane Tchiani discussed security cooperation with President Vladimir Putin last month
A Russian military cargo plane has brought a team of instructors and various equipment to assist the Nigerien army with counter-terrorism training, according to the West African nation’s media reports on Thursday.
The Russian instructors arrived in the country on Wednesday night, public broadcaster Radio Television du Niger (RTN) reported late Thursday, airing footage of a military plane unloading cargo.
“We are here to train the Nigerien army … (and) to develop military cooperation between Russia and Niger,” said a man in camouflage interviewed by RTN.
“We have a lot of experience in fighting terrorism. And we are here to share this experience with our friends,” another Russian specialist told Sputnik. “We brought with us the educational and material base for the training of various specialists.”
Read more
The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to confirm the scope of the mission, but RTN claimed in a Facebook post that the instructors will also install an air-defense system in Niger.
Niger’s transitional leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, and Russian President Vladimir Putin committed to coordinating efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel region last month. According to the Kremlin, the issue was discussed when the West African nation’s leader called Putin to express solidarity with Moscow following a terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
Since taking power after the ouster of pro-Western President Mohamed Bazoum last year, the new leadership has taken measures to sever ties with Niamey’s former partners, citing their failure to quell jihadist violence in the Sahel, which had been the goal of their engagement.
Read more
France completed the withdrawal of its troops from Niger in December after Niamey’s military rulers ordered them to leave, accusing the former colonial power of internal meddling.
Washington has, however, ruled out disengagement from Niger, even after Niamey revoked an agreement with the US on March 16 that had allowed some 1,000 American troops and civilian contractors to operate in the landlocked nation.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: RT
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.rt.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.