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Since 2008, U.S.-trained African military officers have attempted at least nine coups in five West African countries.
According to a Rolling Stone report, eight such coups, which took place in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Mauritania in different years, were successful. The failed coup was in Gambia in 2014.
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Confirmation is reported from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) that several African military leaders who staged coups in their countries participated in AFRICOM's Flintlock exercises.
Since 2015, five coups have been carried out by military leaders who had previously participated in Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) Flintlock exercises, according to the report.
The U.S. Department of Defense claims that these exercises, which were first conducted in Africa in 2005, are intended to strengthen the capacity of African countries to fight terrorism.
Según se informa, el Comando de África de EE. UU. (AFRICOM) ha confirmado que varios líderes militares africanos que llevaron a cabo golpes de estado en sus países participaron en los ejercicios antiterroristas Flintlock de AFRICOM.
— LIBERTAD SIEMPRE (@LIBERTADSIEMP11) October 19, 2022
The US Africa Command UU. ( AFRICOM) has reportedly confirmed that several African military leaders who conducted coups in their countries participated in AFRICOM's Flintlock counterterrorism exercises.
"SOCAFRICA's Flintlock exercise may not be an incubator for insurrections, but recent coup plotters have been some of its most prominent participants," said Rolling Stone.
Burkina Faso officer Gilbert Diendere, Burkina Faso lieutenant colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, colonel Mamady Dumbua (Guinea) and colonel Assimi Goita (Mali) are some of the military personnel who participated in the U.S.-led exercise and later took part in the coups d'état in their countries.
In 2021, Elite U.S. troops were operating in nine African countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia and Tunisia, according to retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, head of Special Operations Command Africa until 2017.
Fourteen percent of U.S. commandos sent overseas in 2021 were sent to Africa. However, Rear Admiral Milton "Jamie" Sands, head of Special Operations Command Africa, denied U.S. involvement in the strikes.
Sands said the U.S. had partnered with regimes that did not align "with the rights and will of their people" and ended up being overthrown.
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