Since 2008, US-trained African military officers have attempted at least nine coups in five West African countries, of which eight have been successful, Rolling Stone reported. The successful coups indicated by Rolling Stone occurred in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania in different years; the unsuccessful one took place in Gambia in 2014.
According to the report, citing AFRICOM, warlords who had previously participated in the Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) Flintlock exercises, which are claimed by the US Department of Defense to be intended to strengthen the ability of African nations to counter terrorism, have conducted five coups since 2015.
"SOCAFRICA’s Flintlock exercise may not be an incubator of insurrection, but recent putschists have been some of its highest profile participants," Rolling Stone pointed out.
Kelly Cahalan, spokeswoman for US Africa Command, claimed that "military seizures of power are inconsistent with U.S. military training and education.”
At the same time, according to the outlet, the Burkina Faso officer Gilbert Diendere was trained by the US in 2010, and in 2015 he staged a coup in Burkina Faso. Another Burkinabe military figure, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew the authorities of the country in January this year, also participated in the exercises. He remained the head of the country until the end of September, when he was overthrown by a group of military forces led by Ibrahim Traore, whose connections with US instructors are unknown.
Among other military figures who participated in the US-led exercise and later took part in takeovers in their countries are Colonel Mamady Dumbua, who became president of Guinea in 2021 as a result of a coup, and Colonel Assimi Goita, who seized power in Mali the same year..
The Flintlock exercises that began as a Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET)-like program in 1968 and initially included a number of Western countries were first conducted in Africa in 2005. The JCET exercises are aimed to provide US Special Forces with training opportunities abroad. The Flintlock exercises, as well as JCET, are also intended to let the host countries practice basics such as small-unit tactics, marksmanship, land navigation, and combat medical skills.
Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie” Sands, the Special Operations Command Africa chief, denied US involvement in the coups and said it was a coincidence as the US had partnered with regimes that didn’t align “with the rights and will of their people” and ended up being overthrown.
“I would tell you that there’s no one more surprised or disappointed when partners that we’re working with or have been working with for a while in some cases decide to overthrow their government,” Sands told Rolling Stone. “We have not found ourselves able to prevent it.”
According to Rear Adm. Sands, the US has no other option but to continue with its support for African countries, even though Washington can't stop the coups.
After 9/11, the Pentagon expanded its military activities in Africa, creating an extensive network of outposts in the north of Africa — from Senegal to Kenya, and Tunisia to Gabon — conducting numerous training missions throughout the continent.
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who headed Special Operations Command Africa until 2017, told the Rolling Stone that the US’ most elite troops were operating in nine African countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, and Tunisia in 2021.
All in all, 14 percent of US commandos sent abroad in 2021 were dispatched to Africa, constituting the second biggest percentage after the Middle East.