Mission
Operation Enduring Freedom Trans Sahara is primarily a training mission meant to equip 10 nations to combat insurgents in the region. Africa Command states: {{quote, OEF-TS is the USG's 3rd priority counter terror effort conducting activities that support TSCTP but are not exclusive to TSCTP. OEF-TS supports TSCTP by forming relationships of peace, security, and cooperation among all Trans Sahara Nations. OEF-TS fosters collaboration and communication among participating countries. Furthermore, OEF-TS strengthens counterterrorism and border security, promotes democratic governance, reinforces bilateral military ties, and enhances development and institution building. U.S. Africa Command, through OEF-TS, provides training, equipment, assistance and advice to partner nation armed forces. This increases their capacity and capability to deny safe haven to terrorists and ultimately defeat extremist and terrorist activities in the region.{{cite web , url = http://www.africom.mil/oef-ts.asp , title = Operation Enduring Freedom Trans Sahara , publisher = AFRICOM , access-date = 15 March 2012 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120313194707/http://www.africom.mil/oef-ts.asp , archive-date = 13 March 2012 , url-status = dead , df = dmy-all At some point in 2013, OEF-TS was redesignated as Operation Juniper Shield. Operation Juniper Shield encompasses American operations across Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.Training programs
Flintlock
The Atlas Accord
Although the Flintlock Exercise was postponed, another training program in Mali was not. The Atlas Accord was created in 2012 to train African military personnel in a number of skills while focusing on logistics.{{cite web , url = http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23446:us-mali-armies-kick-off-exercise-atlas-accord-postpone-exercise-flintlock&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105 , title = US, Mali Armies Kick off Exercise Atlas Accord; Postpone Exercise Flintlock , publisher = Defense Web , date = 13 February 2012 , access-date = 24 February 2012 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518193416/http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23446:us-mali-armies-kick-off-exercise-atlas-accord-postpone-exercise-flintlock&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105 , archive-date = 18 May 2013 , url-status = live , df = dmy-all The exercise includes classroom instruction and field instruction. Atlas Accord 12 focused solely on logistics and aerial resupply, while the next exercise in 2013 will continue training in aerial logistics but will also include command, control, communications, and computer (C4) techniques.African Lion exercise
The largest training exercise, African Lion, is an annual security cooperation exercise held by the US and Morocco.{{cite web , title = African Lion 12 ready to roar: marine forces in Africa conducts final planning conference , url=http://www.dvidshub.net/news/83446/african-lion-12-ready-roar-marine-forces-africa-conducts-final-planning-conference , publisher = DVIDs hub , access-date=25 February 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305053546/http://www.dvidshub.net/news/83446/african-lion-12-ready-roar-marine-forces-africa-conducts-final-planning-conference , archive-date = 5 March 2014 , url-status = live , df = dmy-all Created in 2008, this program is designed to instruct a variety of skills, including aerial logistics, non-lethal weapons training, combined arms and maneuver exercises. More than 900 Moroccans and 1,200 Americans take part in the two-week exercise.History
On 12 September 2007, a USAF C-130 was damaged from rifle fire by Tuareg forces while the aircraft was engaged in a supply drop to besieged Malian soldiers, no Americans were wounded in the incident. The Joint Special Operations Command, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) established the Joint Special Operations Task Force–Trans Sahara (JSOTF-TS) to help combat terrorism in the region. In 2012, the name of Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara transitioned to Operation Juniper Shield, although the operation was still referred to in US Government sources as OEF-TS as late as 2014. ABC News reported that US forces arrived in Niger in early 2013 to support the Operation Serval, French military intervention in Mali; 150 US personnel set up a surveillance drone operation over Mali that was conducted out of Niamey. As of 2017, there were about 800 US troops in Niger, the majority of whom are construction crews working to build up a second drone base in northern Niger. The remainder conduct a surveillance drone mission out of Niamey that helps out the French in Mali and other regional countries in the fight against the terrorists, and less than a hundred Special Forces (United States Army), US Army Special Forces soldiers are also advising and assisting Niger's military to build up their fighting capability to counter the terrorists.{{cite web, url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-troops-niger/story?id=50559788, title=Why US troops are in Niger, publisher=ABC News, date=19 October 2017, access-date=25 October 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025105817/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-troops-niger/story?id=50559788, archive-date=25 October 2017, url-status=live, df=dmy-all CNN reported that following the Tongo Tongo ambush in October 2017, which left 4 US soldiers killed, the government of Niger granted the US military the authority to arm its drones in Niger; the US military had been seeking the authority to arm its drones in Niger for months prior to the ambush. ABC News also reported that there are 300 U.S. military personnel inSee also
* Tuareg Rebellion (2007–2009) * Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) * 2012 Northern Mali conflict * List of wars 2003-currentReferences
{{reflistSources
* {{cite book, last=Comolli , first=Virginia , title=Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency , date=2015 , publisher=Oxford University Press , location=LondonExternal links