By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Independent News ExpressIndependent News Express
  • Home
  • International
    InternationalShow More
    United Nations
    4th International Conference On Financing For Development Delivers Renewed Hope And Action For Sustainable Development
    1 week ago
    The African Development Bank and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) scale up drive for sustainable urbanization in Africa
    AfDB, UN-Habitat Scale Up Drive For Sustainable Urbanisation In Africa
    1 week ago
    UN
    North Africa: Green Climate Fund Approves Record $300m For FAO-designed Projects In Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, The Sahel
    1 week ago
    UNICEF
    How Wars Across Middle East, North Africa Affecting Children – UNICEF
    1 week ago
    UNDP
    UN Development Programme Welcomes Historic Deal On Sustainable Development Even Amidst Global Turmoil
    2 weeks ago
  • Africa
    Africa
    Show More
    Top News
    South Africa: North West Health Denies Reports Of Severe Medication Shortages In Facilities
    3 years ago
    United Nations Tasks Ghana Govt On Mental Health Care
    2 years ago
    Africa Climate Change Finance, Time For Private Sector Support
    2 years ago
    Latest News
    At Gender Statistics Forum, African Leaders Urge Renewed Commitment To Quality Gender Data
    5 days ago
    Ooni’s Wife, Olori Temitope Enitan-Ogunwusi Takes Ile Ife Royalty To ADWIN Launch In Cote d’Ivoire
    4 weeks ago
    Independent UN Body Finds Systemic Racism Against Africans And People Of African Descent
    1 month ago
    Public Exit: Why South Africa Businesses Are Moving To Private Cloud
    1 month ago
  • Corporate News
    • Media Outreach
  • Politics
    Politics
    Show More
    Top News
    Tinubu: Abdulmalik, Olonisakin, Buratai, Others Visit Lagos, Meet Lagos Speaker
    3 years ago
    Olopade celebrates Daniel’s APC Victory In Ogun
    2 years ago
    Democracy In Africa In Crisis, Afrobarometer Warns
    2 years ago
    Latest News
    Lagos LG Poll: I’ll Bring Government Closer To The People – APC Aspirant
    13 hours ago
    Lagos LG Poll: Tunde Disco/Ganiyu Obasa Intensify Campaign In Agege
    2 weeks ago
    PHOTOS: Vinod Obasa Joins Other Lagos APC LG Candidates At Sanwo-Olu’s Reception
    2 weeks ago
    Lagos Lawmaker Praises Tinubu For Helping Nigeria Breathe Again
    1 month ago
  • News
    • Agriculture
    • Breaking News
    • Tech
    • Maritime
    • Crime
    • Art & Culture
    News
    Show More
    Top News
    Pa Abdulfatah Amoo Ayanwale
    Pa Ayanwale Dies At 76, Fidau Prayers Holds 8 August
    2 years ago
    Ondo Governor, Akeredolu Begins Construction Of First Flyover In Akure
    2 years ago
    Celebration Of Life: Reverend Adewumi Jegede Of Later House Of God Assembly Buried Amid Pomp
    1 year ago
    Latest News
    She Was an Amazon Who Left Indelible Marks — Ayorinde Pays Tribute to Late Ambassador Adefope
    4 days ago
    IMSUAA 2025 Convention Mascot: A Symbol Of Love, Unity And Cultural Diversity
    5 days ago
    Lagos Hosts Groundbreaking Revenue Recovery Summit
    5 days ago
    CFE Foundation Seeks Sponsors to Sustain Humanitarian Programs Amidst Funding Challenges
    1 week ago
  • Entertainment
    • Comedy
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Concert & Events
    Entertainment
    Show More
    Top News
    BBNaija 7: Sheggz Ready For Disqualification Over Bella
    3 years ago
    Tems Breaks Record At Grammy, First Female Nigerian Artist To Win Award
    2 years ago
    Grammy-Award-Winning Jon Batiste Drops New Anthem to Open Second Season of Coke Studio
    2 years ago
    Latest News
    Purp vs Raymu: Who Will Be Crowned The Next Nigerian Idol?
    4 days ago
    Local Content Powers African Dreams
    1 week ago
    The Drama Returns As BBNaija ‘No Loose Guard’ Reunion Premieres June 23
    3 weeks ago
    You Can’t Fake it — James Omekwe On MultiChoice’s Impact On African Filmmaking
    1 month ago
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
    • Love & Life
    • Food & Drink
    • Travel & Tourism
    • Relationship
    • Sex
    Lifestyle
    Show More
    Top News
    UNIUYO: PHE Students Dazzle At Sports & Dance Event
    2 years ago
    Global Food Crisis Put Millions Of Young Lives At Risk
    2 years ago
    Gov Sanwo-Olu Makes Case For Smart Packaging To Reduce Food Waste
    10 months ago
    Latest News
    Noble Call to Service: Inside the Induction of 104 New Knights of St. Mulumba
    4 weeks ago
    Joining The Knighthood Brings You Closer To God -Sir Eva Njemanze
    4 weeks ago
    Africa Tech Festival Unveils Strategic Themes For 2025 Event,
    4 weeks ago
    Lagos SWAN Joins UN To Celebrate World Nutrition Month At Unilag Confab
    2 months ago
  • Business
    • Banking & Finance
    • Oil & Gas
    BusinessShow More
    Petralon's Nigerian Drilling Campaign to Boost Offshore Oil Output
    Petralon’s Nigerian Drilling Campaign To Boost Offshore Oil Output
    4 days ago
    Year 2025
    How Nigeria Can Unleash Its Economic Potential – IMF
    5 days ago
    GTCO Plc Becomes 1st West Africa’s Financial Services Institution To Achieve Listing And Trading Of Its Ordinary Shares On London Stock Exchange
    5 days ago
    Unity Bank
    Unity Bank Empowers Young Entrepreneurs With ₦16M Business Grant
    1 week ago
    NNPCL Board Accused Of Planning Lavish Party In Rwanda Amidst N210tn Financial Scandal
    3 weeks ago
  • Health
    Health
    Show More
    Top News
    Marburg Virus: Ghana Records Third Death
    3 years ago
    Ilera Eko Social Health Plan Extends Scope To More Benefits For Lagos Govt Staff
    2 years ago
    Boyfriend Gives Mother And Child HIV
    2 years ago
    Latest News
    SSB Tax: Industry Actors, Paid Mouthpieces Slammed Over Campaign To Stop CAPPA
    3 days ago
    CAPPA Warns Nigerians On Excessive Consumption Of Sugar-sweetened Beverages, Says Nigeria Is In The Throes Of Public Health Crisis
    4 days ago
    Rising Non-communicable Diseases: WHO Wants Higher Taxes For Sugary Drinks, Alcohol, Tobacco
    6 days ago
    Online Education Can Enhance Clinical Guideline Use By Over 50% 
    4 weeks ago
  • More
    • Sports
    • Aviation/Transportation
    • Deliverance Hour
    • Industry & Labour
    • Insurance
    • Interview
    • Judiciary
    • Metro
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Religious
    • Romance
    • Science & Discovery
Reading: Why African States Are BuyingTurkey’s Bayraktar TB2 Drone By Paul Melly
Share
Notification Show More
Aa
Independent News ExpressIndependent News Express
Aa
  • Home
  • International
  • Africa
  • Corporate News
  • Politics
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
  • Health
  • More
Search
  • Home
  • International
  • Africa
  • Corporate News
    • Media Outreach
  • Politics
  • News
    • Agriculture
    • Breaking News
    • Tech
    • Maritime
    • Crime
    • Art & Culture
  • Entertainment
    • Comedy
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Concert & Events
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
    • Love & Life
    • Food & Drink
    • Travel & Tourism
    • Relationship
    • Sex
  • Business
    • Banking & Finance
    • Oil & Gas
  • Health
  • More
    • Sports
    • Aviation/Transportation
    • Deliverance Hour
    • Industry & Labour
    • Insurance
    • Interview
    • Judiciary
    • Metro
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Religious
    • Romance
    • Science & Discovery
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Independent News Express > Blog > Opinion > Why African States Are BuyingTurkey’s Bayraktar TB2 Drone By Paul Melly
Opinion

Why African States Are BuyingTurkey’s Bayraktar TB2 Drone By Paul Melly

Last updated: 2022/08/25 at 2:14 PM
3 years ago
Share
SHARE

African states are increasingly acquiring Turkish drones to fight armed groups after they proved to be effective in various conflicts around the world, writes analyst Paul Melly.

As Ukraine stepped up its initial fightback against Russia’s invasion, and long before Western heavy artillery and rocket launchers started to arrive, there was one weapon that the Kyiv government could already deploy – the Bayraktar TB2 drone.

This Turkish-made weapon had already proved its effectiveness in helping Azerbaijan defeat Armenian armoured forces and snatch back extensive territory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020.

But admirers of the drone’s capabilities are not confined to eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image

Recent weeks have seen a consignment of Bayraktar TB2s delivered to the West African state of Togo, which is struggling to curb the infiltration of jihadist fighters moving south from Burkina Faso.

While in May, Niger acquired half a dozen of these versatile and affordable drones for its military operations against insurgent groups in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert, and around Lake Chad.

Other African customers have included Ethiopia, Morocco and Tunisia, while Angola has also expressed interest.

But the first to use this potent surveillance and strike weapons on the continent may well have been the UN-recognised government in Libya – where they were spotted as early as 2019 and may have helped Tripoli’s forces hold off eastern rebels.

For African buyers, especially in poorer countries, drones provide the chance to develop significant air power without the vast cost of equipment and years of elite training required to develop a conventional air strike force of manned jets.

This is a particular attraction for states such as Niger and Togo.

They face the complex challenge of curbing highly motivated and mobile bands of Islamist militants, camping out in the bush and moving quickly through the scrubby terrain of the Sahel by motorbike to stage ambushes and surprise attacks on isolated army and gendarmerie posts, border crossings and civilian communities.

A policeman walk behind school girls as they cross the border in Yemboate, the northern Togo border post with Burkina Faso, on February 17, 2020
Security along the Togo-Burkina Faso border is increasingly under threat from militant Islamists

Niger’s army has been grappling with this problem for years, fighting militants in the tri-border region, where the country meets Burkina Faso and Mali, just a few hours drives from the capital, Niamey.

Government troops are also engaged in an arduous campaign to protect the far southeast from attacks by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

But for Togo, the direct reality of the jihadist threat is a relatively new and hugely worrying experience.

For most of the past decade the activities of the militant groups were confined to the central Sahel – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – and mainly in areas relatively distant from their borders with coastal countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin.

But more recently the picture has begun to change, as the armed groups extended their reach across much of Burkina Faso, and into rural areas along the border with these four states.

By late 2019 security forces were detecting signs of militant infiltration into northern Togo.

Initially, the fighters were just hiding out for rest and recuperation, but the government in Lomé, like its counterparts across coastal West Africa, was already concerned that the threat could grow.

Neighbouring Ivory Coast had suffered a jihadist attack on the resort of Grand Bassam in 2016, which left 19 dead, and then attacks and clashes with security forces in the north-east in 2020.

A woman, helped by a relative, cries next to wreaths of flowers in front of the Etoile du Sud hotel on March 20, 2016 in Grand Bassam, during a tribute to the victims of a djihadist attack that killed 19 people on March 13
Militant Islamists carried out a major attack on Ivory Coast in 2016

And a local wildlife guide died when militants kidnapped two French tourists in the Pendjari national park in Benin. Two French troops were later killed in a firefight when the tourists were rescued across the border in Burkina Faso.

The first direct raid on Togo itself, at Sanloanga, came last November. Then before dawn on 11 May, dozens of militants attacked an army outpost at Kpék-pakandi, near Burkina Faso, leaving eight soldiers dead and 13 wounded.

The troops fought back, killing some assailants. The next month the government decreed a state of emergency in Savanes, Togo’s northernmost region.

But that has not been enough to deter the jihadists now operating in the frontier zone and thought to be affiliated with Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, the main alliance of Mali-based Islamist armed groups. Two soldiers were killed in another incident in July.

President Faure Gnassingbé has toured the area in an effort to bolster morale. But some badly shaken locals have been abandoning their villages – a phenomenon already seen in other parts of the Sahel afflicted by militant violence.

The regime used to monopolise power for decades has even felt the need to invite opposition parties for talks about developing a united national strategy to cope with the militant threat.

But ultimately, direct military force will have to play a role. And that is where the Turkish drones come in, providing Togo – like Niger – with its own national aerial surveillance capacity to try to spot bands of militant fighters and, potentially, strike against them.

The use of drones is not new to the Sahel. Both France and the US have drone bases in Niger, operating in support of the government’s security strategy.

For larger powers such as Ethiopia – where the federal government has been battling the Tigray People’s Liberation Front – drones are a valuable tool for expanding overall military capacity.

But there are risks, just as with manned aircraft. By January, aid workers were reporting that drones had killed more than 300 civilians in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict.

And the Togolese military have admitted to killing seven young civilians in error, after an aircraft – whether manned or unmanned is unclear – thought they were a group of militants and launched a strike on 9-10 July.

The risks of such tragic mistakes are heightened at moments of panic about the apparent infiltration of jihadists.

For both Togo and Niger the supply partnership with Turkey is also politically useful, reducing their public reliance on close security partnerships with France, the former colonial power, about which a significant strand of domestic opinion remains uneasy.

From Ankara’s point of view, there are also attractions: “drone diplomacy” and military partnership have become a significant tool in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy outreach south of the Sahara, complementing more long-standing strengths such as the building of airports and other key infrastructure.

And within the Turkish politico-business elite there is a personal connection too.

Baykar, the manufacturer of the Bayraktar TB2 drone, is headed by two brothers – chief executive Haluk Bayraktar and his brother Selçuk, chief technology officer, who happens to be married to President Erdogan’s daughter Sümeyye.

Paul Melly, a consulting fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House in London first wrote this piece for the BBC.

You Might Also Like

Impact Of Fake Colleagues In The Workplace By Timi Olubiyi, Ph.D.

Fr Mbaka’s Persistent Attacks Against Evangelist Ebuka Obi; A Serious Cause For Concern By Nene Daniels

Oborevwori And The Task Of Reconfiguring Delta APC

Are Africans Genetically Inferior? By Timi Olubiyi, Ph.D.

Vaping In Nigeria: Green Outside, Deadly Within By Robert Egbe

TAGGED: Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 Drone
INadminNG August 25, 2022 August 25, 2022
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn Telegram Email Print
Previous Article Ghana: Shop Owners Threaten Strike Over Inflation
Next Article Russia Rocket Strike Kills 25, Injures Dozens In Ukraine
about us

Independent News Express (iNews Express), a publication of 4Ds Nigeria Limited, is birthed out of the desires of the founding fathers to report News as it is.

We value Professionalism, Excellence, Service, Creativity and Integrity.

The Company

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Policy

Quick Links

  • Advertise with us
  • Newsletters
  • Deal

Categories

Find Us on Socials

© Independent News Express. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?