The United States is spending nearly a billion dollars to expand its
operations in Djibouti (northeast Africa). There is one official U.S.
military base in Africa, the one in Djibouti. France and the United States
SOCOM (Special Operations Command) have had special operations forces
(commandos and special aircraft) stationed in Camp Lemonnier, which is next
to the main airport outside the Djibouti capital since 2002. The U.S.
recently agreed to a ten year lease for Camp Lemonnier with the annual rent
payment going from $38 million to $63 million a year.
There are actually a number of satellite camps around Lemonnier, including
one on the coast for training Somali coast guard personnel. Most of the
details of the new construction and refurbishment of the existing stuff is
classified. A lot of it obviously (via cell phone photos taken by anyone
passing by) involves a basic stuff like roads, air strips and buildings as
well as training areas. But a lot of new equipment is coming in and
discreetly installed.
Djibouti is next to northern Somalia. France had commandos there until the
1990s, when they left and abandoned Camp Lemonnier. The U.S. moved in after
September 11, 2001 and French commandos soon joined them. But you don't hear
much about this corner of the War on Terror, despite the numerous terror
groups in the region (especially Yemen and Somalia). Why is that? Well, it's
complicated.
France has been building up their special operations capability in Djibouti
since 2006, in anticipation of problems in Eritrea and Somalia, both of
which are involved in disputes with Ethiopia. The Addis Ababa
(Ethiopia)-Djibouti railroad is pretty lucrative for Djibouti and France
because it is Ethiopia's main outlet to the sea, and fighting between
Ethiopia and either of its neighbors could create problems there. American
and French Special Forces facilities in Camp Lemonnier are pretty easy to
spot on Google Earth. Less easy to spot is the fact that France and SOCOM
also have access to one or more Ethiopian air bases. American UAVs operate
from Ethiopia and Djibouti, while U-28s SOCOM air transports are seen in
many other airports (Kenya and Uganda) in the region. The UAVs are sometimes
armed with missiles. Some of these armed UAVs are believed to have also
operated out of Yemen air bases. When not attacking al Qaeda targets in
Yemen, these UAVs are sometimes seen across the Gulf of Aden in Somalia.
U.S. forces in Djibouti were increased after resistance collapsed in Iraq in
2008 and are now the command post for a network of American operations
through the region. That includes a UAV facility on the Seychelles Islands
(1,500 kilometers to the east) and permission to move troops and aircraft
through countries like Kenya and Uganda. There is even a small, and
unofficial, CIA base in Mogadishu, the traditional capital of Somalia. The
CIA, and similar outfits from other nations, also work from Djibouti. But
most of the effort is directed at monitoring what is going on in the region
(mainly Somalia and Yemen but also Eritrea, Nigeria, Mali, Libya, Kenya, and
Ethiopia) not at interfering with the local terrorists. Not much, anyway.
The Djibouti base also supports operations throughout the Sahel (the
semi-desert strip between the North African desert and the Central African
jungles, which stretches from the Atlantic to Somalia).
One minor part of the expansion project involves moving American UAV
operations away from the main French/American military base that is next to
the international airport outside the capital. The UAVs will now operate
from another airstrip far away from the capital. This is to prevent any
accidents involving the American UAVs (mainly 1.1 ton Predators and 4.6 ton
Reapers) shutting down Djibouti's main airport. There have been five
accidents involving these UAVs in the last two years and Djibouti officials
fear it's only a matter of time before an airliner or transport using the
international airport collides with one of the UAVs. The Americans pointed
out that this has never happened, but it seemed the most diplomatic thing to
do was just move the UAVs to another airstrip, 10 kilometers from the
current one, that the French and Americans were already using. The move will
cost the United States about $13 million.