US President Donald Trump has vowed to help end “vicious and violent” conflicts in Africa.
Speaking to journalists during a Nato summit in Brussels, Mr Trump said Africa was on “our very strong list” of priorities.
He added:
“Africa right now has got problems like few people would understand.
They have got things going on there that nobody could believe in this room.
If you saw some of the things that I see through intelligence – what’s going on in Africa – it is so sad, it is so vicious and violent – and we want peace.
We want peace for Africa. We want peace all over the world.
That’s my number one goal – peace all over the world and we are building up a tremendous military because I really believe through strength you get peace.
We are going to have a military like we never had before.”
The US is active in counter-terrorism operations and training in Africa. There are about 7,000 troops and 34 individual US bases or staging posts across Africa – and probably many more secret facilities.
Last year, four members of the US special forces were killed in an ambush in Niger.
It was the largest loss of American military life in Africa since the “Black Hawk Down” killings in Somalia 25 years ago.
-BBC
