In Africa, US-trained militaries are ousting civilian governments

African troops trained by the US military have overthrown civilian governments and seized power in several African nations, the Wall Street Journal said in a report.

The US has trained thousands of African soldiers, from infantrymen rehearsing counterterrorism raids on the edge of the Sahara to senior commanders attending the US Military Academy at West Point.

The United States has trained troops in many African nations, supposedly for “counterterrorism programs”. However, numerous US-trained officers in Africa have seized power in their countries, most notably, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.

The US maintains its military presence in Africa under the pretext of fighting terrorism, but human rights groups say civilians have been caught in the crossfire and casualties from US airstrikes are higher than have been reported.

US forces had been training about 100 Guinean soldiers in a special forces unit led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the mastermind behind the country's recent coup that is now the leader of the West African nation.

The increased foothold of United States in Africa has raised concerns as Washington does not have a good track record, even when it comes to delivering on its stated claims of fighting terrorism.

Military coups in African countries, which have increased significantly in recent years, are one of the main legacies of the Western colonial powers.

In their grab for influence and resources, colonial powers drew artificial borders across the Middle East and Africa, often arbitrarily splitting traditional tribal territories into new states.

These Western imperialists turned African countries into hotbeds of conflict and war, exposing them to violent changes of power to the point that the number of coups exceeded 200 since the late 1950s.

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