US seeks to deploy reconnaissance drones in several African countries — WSJ

The US is mulling the possibility of placing its military drones in several African countries on the Atlantic Coast to curb the spread of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in the region, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The newspaper said quoting sources that Washington is engaged in "preliminary talks" to use airfields in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Benin.

Drones would allow American forces to conduct aerial surveillance of militant movements along the coast and provide over-the-shoulder tactical advice to local troops during combat operations. 

Africa, from Somalia to Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Sahel, is now the global epicentre of Islamist violence. American and African military commanders see the biggest threat in western Africa coming from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, or JNIM, an umbrella group of Al Qaeda affiliates responsible for most of the recent deaths.