Former NATO Commander Warns of ‘Devastating’ Full-Blown Battle in Africa

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Stavridis warned on Sunday that the battle in Niger amid a looming deadline for coup leaders to cede energy may doubtlessly result in a “full-blown struggle in Africa.”

The Sunday deadline established by a coalition of West African nations for Niger to return to democratic rule is about to run out. The demand has been shunned by fellow military-led international locations Burkina Faso and Mali, who’ve collectively warned that any intervention would quantity to a declaration of struggle.

Whereas battle is much from assured, the situations for a serious escalation are shortly brewing on a continent that has performed host to a few of the deadliest wars of the previous century. Some imagine that such a confrontation would have huge ramifications, not just for the folks of the Sahel area, however far past, with the potential to attract within the likes of the USA, France and Russia amongst different invested powers.

Whereas talking on X, formally often called Twitter, Stavridis requested on Sunday, “Will this result in a full-blown struggle in Africa? It definitely has the potential to take action, and can be a big and devastating occasion.”

On Friday, protection chiefs from the West African nations finalized an intervention plan and urged militaries to prepared sources after negotiations with Niger’s army junta stalled, the Related Press reported.

“All the weather that might go into any eventual intervention have been introduced out right here and been refined, together with the timing, the sources wanted and the how and the place and when we’re going to deploy such a pressure,” mentioned Abdel-Fatau Musah, Financial Group of West African States (ECOWAS) commissioner for political affairs, peace and safety, after a gathering between protection chiefs from ECOWAS international locations excluding Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Niger.

Nonetheless, Musah didn’t say whether or not ECOWAS would deploy pressure on the finish of the deadline given to the junta. Newsweek has reached out to a number of army specialists for remark through electronic mail.

Whereas chatting with The New York Occasions on Saturday through telephone, Normal Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Nigerian chief of protection employees, advised the newspaper, “Democracy should be restored, by diplomacy or pressure.”

On Sunday, safety and intelligence knowledgeable Oluseyi Adetayo advised CNN that “preparation is already in high gear, there is not any doubt about that and the army are on standby. To my very own understanding, Nigeria isn’t going to again down and can do no matter it takes to return Niger to civilian rule.”

In the meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on X on Friday that the U.S. is pausing sure overseas help applications, “The availability of United States help to the federal government of Niger will depend on democratic governance and respect for constitutional order. We’re pausing sure overseas help applications, and can proceed to evaluation our help because the state of affairs evolves.”