Credit: Wikipedia /  President Trump has deployed US soldiers to Libreville, Gabon to support  the security of American personnel in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

By Gary Raynaldo  DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The US military has deployed soldiers to Gabon amid fears of violent protests in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after its presidential election. These deployed personnel will remain in the region until the security situation in the DR Congo becomes such that their presence is no longer needed, according to President Trump. 

“United States Armed Forces personnel have deployed to Libreville, Gabon, to be in position to support the security of United States citizens, personnel, and diplomatic facilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  This deployment of approximately 80 personnel is in response to the possibility that violent demonstrations may occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in reaction to the December 30, 2018, elections there. “

President Trump letter to Speaker Of The House of Representatives, Jan. 4, 2019. 

Voters in the DRC went to the polls on December 30, two years after the election was first scheduled to be held, to elect the successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 18 years.  

Congo election results have been delayed as US deploys troops to Africa. The results of last weekend’s presidential vote in the Central African nation will be delayed by a week, the electoral commission announced. There are concerns of a popular “uprising” over any “fraudulent” election  results.

Is The United States Attempting To Increase Its Military Presence in Africa With This Latest Deployment?

Credit: militarybases.com/    Camp-Lemonnier in Djibouti ,  Horn Of Africa, a full-scale military base that houses 4,000 troops

There is only one “official” U.S. Military base in Africa-Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa region.   United States Africa Command, (U.S. AFRICOM) is one of six of the U.S. Defense Department’s geographic combatant commands and is responsible to the Secretary of Defense for military relations with African nations, the African Union, and African regional security organizations. A full-spectrum combatant command, U.S. AFRICOM is responsible for all U.S. Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security cooperation on the African continent, its island nations, and surrounding waters. AFRICOM began initial operations on Oct. 1, 2007, and officially became an independent command on Oct. 1, 2008.  The United States maintains its only military base on the African continent in Djibouti, which it uses as a staging ground for counterterrorism operations in Africa and the Middle East. Then-President Obama in 2016 renewed the lease on that base for 20 more years.

U.S. MILITARY SAYS IT HAS A “LIGHT FOOTPRINT” IN AFRICA. DOCUMENTS SHOW A VAST NETWORK OF BASES: The  Intercept reported in an article Dec. 2018. 

THE U.S. MILITARY has long insisted that it maintains a “light footprint” in Africa, and there have been reports of proposed drawdowns in special operations forces and closures of outposts on the continent, due to a 2017 ambush in Niger and an increasing focus on rivals like China and Russia, according to the Intercept. But through it all, U.S. Africa Command has fallen short of providing concrete information about its bases on the continent, leaving in question the true scope of the American presence there, the  Intercept reported.