Turkey Adds Mercenaries to Sahel’s Violent Mix

By ADF On Dec 17, 2024

Syrian fighters have become a key part of Turkey’s effort to use private military contractors to increase its influence in the Sahel, particularly in the hotly contested tri-border region where Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger meet. AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Increasing instability in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has created an opening for Turkey to deploy private military contractors to the region. However, the deployment comes as Islamic extremists are inflicting casualties on Russian contractors and may turn their weapons on Turkey’s fighters as well, analysts say.

Earlier this year, Turkey’s Sadat International Defense Consultancy, a private military contractor closely allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sent 1,100 fighters recruited from Syrian refugee camps to Niger.

The fighters were positioned in the hotly contested Liptako-Gourma region, where the three Sahelian countries meet. Violence perpetrated in that region by groups such as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has helped make the Sahel the world’s leading location for terrorism.

Turkey said the fighters are in Niger to consult and guard Turkish interests, such as mines. That has not kept them out of harm’s way, however.

“In Niger, Syrian mercenaries are supposed to guard mines, oil installations or military bases,” Rami Abdel-Rahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), told Le Monde. “But they then find themselves involved in fighting against jihadist groups. Nine of these Syrian fighters have died to date.”

Turkey is ramping up its involvement in Niger at the same time that Russian mercenaries with Africa Corps, formerly the Wagner Group, have failed to defeat extremist fighters across the region. Russian mercenaries have suffered notable defeats, including an ambush by Tuareg fighters in July in Mali that killed dozens of Africa Corps fighters and Malian soldiers.

Mali and Burkina Faso invited Wagner fighters after deposing democratically elected governments and demanding that French counterterrorism forces depart. Niger also recruited Africa Corps fighters after its own coup in 2023.

Niger, which had a strong relationship with Turkey before its coup, received six Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in 2022. The post-coup relationship was strengthened in July at meetings that opened the door to Turkey sending mercenaries into the country.

“Turkey also has opportunities to increase economic and military cooperation with Burkina Faso and Mali, but Russia’s larger presence in both countries will pose a greater obstacle,” analyst Liam Karr wrote for the Institute for the Study of War.

To staff their mercenary groups, Russia and Turkey have recruited heavily from Syria. Until its collapse in early December 2024, the Syrian government had received crucial support from Russia. Turkey, Syria’s neighbor to the north, recruits its fighters from those displaced by the Syrian civil war.

Syrian opposition members such as Abu Mohammed, who spoke to the media using a pseudonym, told the BBC that Turkey’s offer of $1,500 for a six-month term — about five times the pay from Syrian opposition forces — overcame their reluctance about joining Sadat.

Another Syrian recruit, identified as Ahmed, told Agence France-Presse in May that a Turkey-backed Syrian militia called the Sultan Murad Division recruited him to serve in Niger. He said several groups already had gone to training camps before being deployed.

“The first two batches of fighters have already gone, and a third batch will follow soon,” he said.

When they reach Niger, Sadat fighters can find the reality on the ground different from what they were promised. Some have reported being placed under Russian command and fighting extremists in Liptako-Gourma.

Although Turkey claims Sadat fighters are in the Sahel simply to protect its economic interests, their presence alone might be enough to make them a target for the same extremists that are targeting Russian fighters, according to analyst Jacob Zenn.

In that case, Sadat might learn the same lesson Africa Corps is learning: Private military contractors are not enough to defeat the region’s extremist groups, Zenn wrote recently for the Orion Policy Institute.

“The security situation in the region is unlikely to improve unless more serious issues related to political representation are addressed,” Zenn wrote. “If the underlying political issues are not addressed, it is possible that not only the region’s juntas, but also Turkey and Russia will find themselves evicted from the region at the hands of JNIM.”