R22eR Taking over Niger Training Mission From Special Forces

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

As many as 25 Canadian soldiers, based out of Valcartier, Que., will soon take part in a revamped mission to train security forces in the troubled western African country of Niger.

Last summer, CBC News reported that regular army troops would take over an ongoing deployment, known as Operation Naberius, from Canada's elite special forces.

A handful of the highly-trained soldiers have since 2013 helped train the Niger Armed Forces in marksmanship, reconnaissance and other basic military skills.

National Defence confirms troops from the French-speaking 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, will assume that responsibility and carry out "periodic" instruction of local forces from now on.

There will be two deployments per year and each will last between two and three months. The military will not say precisely when the first team will be in the field.
Mission flies below the radar

The intent, according to spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier, is to buttress "regional efforts to counter the influence of violent extremist organizations in the Sahel region of Africa."

Members of the Royal 22nd Regiment, better known as the Van Doos, parade at the Citadel in Quebec City last September. Members of the Van Doos' 1st battalion will head to Niger to train military personnel there. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

Unlike other high profile training missions in Iraq and Ukraine, there has been virtually no attention paid to the latest mission.

There has been no formal announcement by National Defence and the news comes after requests for comment by CBC News and the online military publication 45eNord.ca.

The mission is separate, but could be complementary to the Liberal government's long-promised return to United Nations peacekeeping, which has been in a holding pattern.

Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, says there is anticipation and some impatience among planners at the UN.

"Countries are eagerly awaiting the government's decision," said Dorn. "They're surprised it has taken this long."
Dithering causes distress

Last summer, the Liberals committed to deploying 600 soldiers and 150 police officers into a series of UN missions, with details expected by the end of last year.

That didn't happen as the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president forced politicians and decision-makers in Canada to take stock of how each policy would be perceived in by the new administration in Washington.

Walter Dorn, professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College, says Canada's decision on a peacekeeping mission is eagerly awaited. (Mike Blanchfield/Canadian Press)

The UN had held open command of the peacekeeping mission in Mali for a Canadian, but that appointment has now gone elsewhere and allies in New York are drumming their fingers.

"The dithering has caused problems with UN planning," said Dorn.

The training of local forces in Niger does not fall within the mandate of the world body because the UN does not conduct counter-terrorism operations.

Le Bouthillier would not say why the switch is being made, other the notion that the military "continually examines and reviews all operations."

Last summer, defence sources told CBC News that officials now believe the basic-level training is best delivered by regular army soldiers.
Precarious security

A small reconnaissance team visited Niger in the fall of last year and the Quebec-based troops have been preparing for the handover ever since, Le Bouthillier said.

The operation flew almost entirely under the radar since it was first ordered by the former Conservative government, which faced repeated calls from the international community to help beat back Islamic militants, who in 2014 had overrun a large swath of territory in neighbouring Mali.


Le Bouthillier said the government of the day determined that special forces, which usually operate in secret, were "best-suited for this type of capacity-building operation."

The mission has also been precarious.

Canadian trainers briefly pulled out of a town in Niger that had been the scene of heavy fighting between government troops and Boko Haram militants in 2015.

No Canadians were involved in combat at Diffa, which sits on the border with Nigeria, but the incident served to underscore the instability in the country.

The deployment is being funded by Global Affairs Canada, which has counter-terrorism capacity building program.

CAF to Niger? Background Information

Two weeks ago I published a post about the possibility of the Canadian Armed Forces heading to Africa with a list of possible destinations, for both UN or NATO missions. One of those regions was Niger.

Here is some background information on what is happening in Niger, and some recent visits by the CAF.

While the United Nations does not currently have a Peacekeeping force in Niger, many believe that Niger will be one of the next locations in Africa where the UN deploys next. Niger is located between two countries who are currently facing terrible violence; Mali and Nigeria. Boko Haram is also becoming a concern within Niger itself, as the terrorist group spreads from Nigeria.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is currently working in Niger with refugees from both Mali and Nigeria. Those fleeing Nigeria are fleeing Boko Haram

The main populations of concern in Niger in 2015 are: Malian refugees who have fled violence in their country since 2012 and are living in camps, refugee-hosting and urban areas; as well as refugees (Nigerian nationals) and returnees (Niger nationals who were living in Nigeria) who have fled violence in north-eastern Nigeria since May 2013, are dispersed in more than 100 villages, and are hosted by the local community.

In northern Mali, after a short period of calm, rising insecurity and tension have led to the arrival of approximately 4,200 new Malian refugees since May 2014. Meanwhile, since the beginning of 2014, more than 6,700 Malian refugees living in Niger have returned home. Niger is currently hosting approximately 37,000 Malian refugees. While conditions do not support massive returns home, UNHCR will, in consultation with host countries and Malian authorities, provide refugees willing to return home with information on the situation in areas of origin, as well as repatriation assistance.

The deteriorating security situation in north-eastern Nigeria has caused several population movements into Niger, including refugees from Nigeria and citizens of Niger who were living in Nigeria and have returned. New arrivals are spread across hundreds of towns and islands on Lake Chad on a vast territory with a poor road network. Accessing these populations poses significant operational and security challenges, and is costly.

When did the CAF first get involved? 

The first time the Canadian Armed Forces went to Niger was as part of Exercise Flintlock in 2013. The Harper Government announced that it would send the Canadian Special Operations Regiment to the region to help train the Niger military on counter-terrorist measures; as the country began to struggle with the conflicts in both Mali and Nigeria. 

CSOR training was provided because the soldiers from Niger receiving Canadian instruction may very well find themselves fighting the al-Qaeda-linked rebels of Mali in the near future. Niger is expected to be one of the three biggest troop-contributing nations, along with Nigeria and Burkina Faso, in a UN-sponsored West African military intervention in Mali.

The Canadian government, which is normally quick to trumpet overseas military efforts, was surprisingly silent on its West African training mission. Canada's deployment was supported by the US and other allies as part of Flintlock. The exercise, aimed at helped West African countries fight terrorism.

The annual Flintlock exercise takes place in different western African countries each year. Canada last participated in 2011. The 2012 exercise, which was supposed to take place in Mali, was cancelled because that country’s army was busy responding to attacks from Tuareg separatists.

The French military intervention on Friday, a dramatic shift from earlier plans for an African-led force, was a sign of the world’s growing fear that the Islamist rebels could topple Mali’s weakened government and turn the country into a haven for terrorists.

The CSOR returned to Niger for Flintlock in 2014 and again in 2015 - where their presence was more widely reported by CTV's W5 and when an attack by Boko Haram forced the CSOR to evacuate the area; which I reported here, in one of my posts in January, this year.

So what would a 2016 UN mission to Niger look like? No one is really sure. It could be an expanded training role; similar to Exercise Flintlock where the CSOR deployed from 2013-2015; or it could be a humanitarian role helping with the refugees; or both. Only time will tell. 

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Information in this post came from the UNHCR's webpage about its mission in Niger, and the 2013 report by the Globe and Mail, "Canada's Contribution to the Fight in Mali"