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A surveillance of sensitive areas by drones, men engaged in the field, aid to military planning: several elements indicate that the Americans have established a sustainable military presence in Tunisia
A member of the Tunisian army's special units stands in front of the military equipment offered to Tunisia by the United States on May 12, 2016, on a military base in Tunis (AFP)
,
ALGIERS - Whether on land or in the air, the forces of the US Command for Africa (AFRICOM) or that of the Special Forces (USSOCOM) keep talking about them, despite much effort to hide their activities and the constant denial of the Tunisian authorities on any foreign presence on its soil.
While there is no formal basis for NATO or the United States on the ground, there are many indications of a sustainable presence in Tunisia.
A drone base in Bizerte
In August 2017, a sexual abuse investigation involved a senior US Air Force officer on a drone base near Bizerte in the far north-east of the country.
Lieutenant-Colonel Denis Paquette was sentenced to the demise of the army, without pension or retirement, after being convicted by a military judge for his excessive consumption of alcohol and an inappropriate relationship with a female soldier, twenty years younger.
Paquette was commander 722 e squadron of drones and base Sidi Ahmed governorate Bizerte in Tunisia. This base had been described by the US Army's official magazine Stars and Stripes as a managed base with Tunisia.
In Tunisia, the American approach "Intelligence Surveillance Recognition" (ISR) has been broad, with an interweaving of actors whose aim is to obtain the maximum of information in real time
In fact, it is a squadron of unarmed MQ9 drones used by the Americans to monitor Libya and the regions of Tunisia where armed Islamists gather, such as that of Mount Chaâmbi in the center-west of the country .
In Tunisia, the American approach "Intelligence Surveillance Recognition" (ISR) has been broad, with an interweaving of actors with the aim of obtaining the maximum of information in real time in Stuttgart (AFRICOM headquarters) or in Washington . The base of Sidi Ahmed is only a small component of the device.
The other component is the use of private military companies for reconnaissance missions over Libya, and especially over Tunisia, from the Italian island of Pantelleria, about fifty kilometers away. off Tunis.
This is where several companies working for the Pentagon take off their civil aircraft transformed to scan the soil daily.
Aid to the Tunisian army
Third angle in this SRI strategy: to provide the Tunisian armed forces with recognition capabilities through donations or equipment sales with advantageous financing under the EDA program (Excess Defense Items for Donations) and FMS (Foreign Military Sales for the sales).
This was the case in 2016: the United States had bundled a package of twenty million dollars of military donations containing two Jeeps, communications equipment and especially twelve small single-engine Maule MX-12 aircraft equipped with surveillance cameras. This deal will be followed a year later by the sale of 24 Kiowa reconnaissance and attack helicopters removed from service in the United States.
The United States also sent "advisers" and even participated and led fighting in Tunisia
These donations were supposed to promote the exchange of information between the Tunisian army and his American counterpart, but it seems that the Americans were not satisfied by the level of cooperation, finally decided to keep total control of the twelve planes recognition offered to Tunisians.
The US presence was not limited to the field of aerial reconnaissance: the United States also sent "advisers" and even participated and led fighting in the Tunisian territory.
In August, several media reported that two US Marines were awarded medals for their "heroic deeds performed in a battle against al-Qaeda fighters in North Africa".
The facts go back to February 28, 2017, when a team of Marines performing a training and assistance mission to Tunisian forces hired an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mount Semmama. near Kasserine in the west near the border with Algeria.
This battle, described as "fierce", also involved US-led attack helicopters that had engaged AQIM fighters on the ground. This is the deduction of the Menastream media that followed the events closely when they occurred.
Several committed countries
This battle would have killed two members of the Katiba Oqba Ibn Nafi and one wounded in the Tunisian army. It would be a gunner who fired from the helicopter engaged in the operation, replaced by an American sergeant.
The United States is not the only country to have troops or instructors in Tunisia. Germany, Britain, Belgium and France have contributed significantly to the war effort against armed Islamists in Tunisia by training the military on the ground and assisting them in planning and executing operations.
A member of the Tunisian army's special units stands in front of the military equipment offered to Tunisia by the United States on May 12, 2016, on a military base in Tunis (AFP)
,
ALGIERS - Whether on land or in the air, the forces of the US Command for Africa (AFRICOM) or that of the Special Forces (USSOCOM) keep talking about them, despite much effort to hide their activities and the constant denial of the Tunisian authorities on any foreign presence on its soil.
While there is no formal basis for NATO or the United States on the ground, there are many indications of a sustainable presence in Tunisia.
A drone base in Bizerte
In August 2017, a sexual abuse investigation involved a senior US Air Force officer on a drone base near Bizerte in the far north-east of the country.
Lieutenant-Colonel Denis Paquette was sentenced to the demise of the army, without pension or retirement, after being convicted by a military judge for his excessive consumption of alcohol and an inappropriate relationship with a female soldier, twenty years younger.
Paquette was commander 722 e squadron of drones and base Sidi Ahmed governorate Bizerte in Tunisia. This base had been described by the US Army's official magazine Stars and Stripes as a managed base with Tunisia.
In Tunisia, the American approach "Intelligence Surveillance Recognition" (ISR) has been broad, with an interweaving of actors whose aim is to obtain the maximum of information in real time
In fact, it is a squadron of unarmed MQ9 drones used by the Americans to monitor Libya and the regions of Tunisia where armed Islamists gather, such as that of Mount Chaâmbi in the center-west of the country .
In Tunisia, the American approach "Intelligence Surveillance Recognition" (ISR) has been broad, with an interweaving of actors with the aim of obtaining the maximum of information in real time in Stuttgart (AFRICOM headquarters) or in Washington . The base of Sidi Ahmed is only a small component of the device.
The other component is the use of private military companies for reconnaissance missions over Libya, and especially over Tunisia, from the Italian island of Pantelleria, about fifty kilometers away. off Tunis.
This is where several companies working for the Pentagon take off their civil aircraft transformed to scan the soil daily.
Aid to the Tunisian army
Third angle in this SRI strategy: to provide the Tunisian armed forces with recognition capabilities through donations or equipment sales with advantageous financing under the EDA program (Excess Defense Items for Donations) and FMS (Foreign Military Sales for the sales).
This was the case in 2016: the United States had bundled a package of twenty million dollars of military donations containing two Jeeps, communications equipment and especially twelve small single-engine Maule MX-12 aircraft equipped with surveillance cameras. This deal will be followed a year later by the sale of 24 Kiowa reconnaissance and attack helicopters removed from service in the United States.
The United States also sent "advisers" and even participated and led fighting in Tunisia
These donations were supposed to promote the exchange of information between the Tunisian army and his American counterpart, but it seems that the Americans were not satisfied by the level of cooperation, finally decided to keep total control of the twelve planes recognition offered to Tunisians.
The US presence was not limited to the field of aerial reconnaissance: the United States also sent "advisers" and even participated and led fighting in the Tunisian territory.
In August, several media reported that two US Marines were awarded medals for their "heroic deeds performed in a battle against al-Qaeda fighters in North Africa".
The facts go back to February 28, 2017, when a team of Marines performing a training and assistance mission to Tunisian forces hired an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mount Semmama. near Kasserine in the west near the border with Algeria.
This battle, described as "fierce", also involved US-led attack helicopters that had engaged AQIM fighters on the ground. This is the deduction of the Menastream media that followed the events closely when they occurred.
Several committed countries
This battle would have killed two members of the Katiba Oqba Ibn Nafi and one wounded in the Tunisian army. It would be a gunner who fired from the helicopter engaged in the operation, replaced by an American sergeant.
The United States is not the only country to have troops or instructors in Tunisia. Germany, Britain, Belgium and France have contributed significantly to the war effort against armed Islamists in Tunisia by training the military on the ground and assisting them in planning and executing operations.
