US Special Units 'Training African Commandos'

US Special Units 'Training African Commandos

The US is training anti-terrorism commandos in African countries to bolster their fight against al Qaeda associates, The New York Times has reported.

According to the newspaper, the secretive programme targets units in Libya, Niger, Mauritania and Mali.

The programme, launched last year, involves members of elite US groups such as the Army's Green Berets and Delta Force.

The report comes on the eve of what is expected to be a major foreign policy speech by President Barack Obama on Wednesday at the Military Academy at West Point.

The training programme aims to help the four states develop the capability of fighting al Qaeda affiliates and other terrorist groups on their soil.

But it has already encountered some problems, the report said.

For example in Libya, which has been marred by chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, an initial effort had to be suspended after equipment was stolen.

US trainers must also carefully screen prospective trainees to aver the risk of shifting allegiances.

The countries selected have battled insurgents.

In Mali, al Qaeda's North African arm AQIM seized power in the north in 2012, and thousands of French troops intervened last year to prevent the Islamists from extending their reach further south.

American forces have trained armies in the past, such as in Afghanistan.

The US is also co-operating with Nigeria in efforts to rescue more than 200 schoolgirls who have been kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

Nigeria has claimed that the military knows where the schoolgirls are , but has ruled out using force to rescue them.