Salisbury - The US wants a drone base established in Afrika to complement the activities of the 3,500 troops that it will deploy to the continent this year.The troops -- to be deployed to 35 Afrikaan countries ‑ will come from the 2nd Brigade's Heavy Combat Team of the First Infantry Division, according to the Pentagon, America's apex military headquarters.
Indications are that the drone base will most likely be in Niger, while another possible site is Burkina Faso.
The US already has a permanent military base in Djibouti, and it has been revealed that The Seychelles -- a SADC member state --already gave America facilities to launch Reaper drones from its territory for attacks on Somalia as far back as 2009, along with Ethiopia.
The Seychelles left SADC in 2004, applied to rejoin in 2008 and was by 2009 allegedly hosting the American military, with that country's President, James Michel, reportedly even wanting to hold "some kind of appropriate ceremony ... for the first flights".