U.S.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS
NUMBERS SURGE IN AFRICA’S
SHADOW WARS
Africa has seen the most dramatic growth in the deployment
of America’s elite troops of any region of the globe over the
past decade.
Nick Turse
December 31 2016, 6:46 p.m.

Photo: Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images

Africa has seen the most dramatic growth in the deployment of
America’s elite troops of any region of the globe over the past decade,
according to newly released numbers.

In 2006, just 1% of commandos sent overseas were deployed in the U.S.

Africa Command area of operations. In 2016, 17.26% of all U.S. Special
Operations forces — Navy SEALs and Green Berets among them —
deployed abroad were sent to Africa, according to data supplied to The
Intercept by U.S. Special Operations Command. That total ranks second
only to the Greater Middle East where the U.S. is waging war against
enemies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

“In Africa, we are not the kinetic solution,” Brigadier General Donald
Bolduc, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, told
African Defense, a U.S. trade publication, early this fall. “We are not at
war in Africa — but our African partners certainly are.”

That statement stands in stark contrast to this year’s missions in

Somalia where, for example, U.S. Special Operations forces assisted
local commandos in killing several members of the militant group, al-
Shabab and Libya, where they supported local fighters battling
members of the Islamic State. These missions also speak to the
exponential growth of special operations on the continent.

As recently as 2014, there were reportedly only about 700 U.S.

commandos deployed in Africa on any given day. Today, according to
Bolduc, “there are approximately 1,700 [Special Operations forces] and
enablers deployed… at any given time. This team is active in 20 nations
in support of seven major named operations.”

Using data provided by Special Operations Command and open source

information, The Intercept found that U.S. special operators were actually
deployed in at least 33 African nations, more than 60% of the 54
countries on the continent, in 2016.
Special Operations Forces deployments in 33 African countries in 2016. Map: The Intercept

“We’re supporting African military professionalization and capability-

building efforts,” said Bolduc. “The [Special Operations forces] network
helps create specific tailored training for partner nations to empower
military and law enforcement to conduct operations against our mutual
threats.”

The majority of African governments that hosted deployments of U.S.

commandos in 2016 have seen their own security forces cited for
human rights abuses by the U.S. State Department, including Algeria,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Djibouti, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania,
among others.

According to data provided to The Intercept by Special Operations

Command, elite U.S. troops are also deployed to Sudan, one of three
nations, along with Iran and Syria, cited by the U.S. as “state sponsors of
terrorism.”

“U.S. [Special Operations forces] have occasionally met with U.S. State
Dept. and interagency partners in Sudan to discuss the overall security
situation in the region,” Africa Command spokesperson Chuck Prichard
wrote in an email.

Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw added, “Their

visit had nothing to do with Sudan’s government or military.”
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