By John Ikani
American Green Berets were training local forces in the West African nation of Guinea when their charges peeled away to mount a coup.
Findings by New York Times and Daily Mail revealed that a team of a dozen Green Berets had been in Guinea since mid-July to train around 100 soldiers in a special forces unit led by Colonel Doumbouya, who served for years in the French Foreign Legion, participated in US military exercises and was once a close ally of the President he overthrew.
Although many US-trained officers have taken power in their countries, most notably General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, this is the first time this has been done in the middle of a military course. American.
Doumbouya who is known to have served in the French Foreign Legion for a long while and had taken part in American military exercises, slipped away to stage the coup in the wee hours of the ill-fated morning.
This has fuelled suspicions that US officers were probably still sleeping when he sneaked from the facility in Forécariah with his accomplices.
The foreign instructors, apparently embarrassed by the actions of the trainees, immediately suspended the program even while the coup was underway.
The United States has trained troops in many African countries, primarily for counterterrorism programs, but also for the general purpose of supporting civilian-led governments.
Kelly Cahalan, US Africa Command spokesperson clarified suspicions about U.S complicity in the coup, stressing that the ouster is never part of the program and lacks consistency with “US military training and education.”
Maintaining the same position, another Public Relations Officer of the command, Bardha S. Azari, said: “We do not have any information on how the apparent military seizure of power occurred and had no prior indication of these events.”
