Thread by @jseldin

NEW: #China "proceeding to increase their access & influence on the continent" & seeks to establish more military bases in #Africa, outgoing @USAfricaCommand Commander Gen Stephen Townsend tells @GWUPMNS

"Some of the most lethal terrorists on the planet are now in Africa...#alQaida & #ISIS " per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"We've prevented strategic distraction" per Gen Townsend on his time at @USAfricaCommand - says US has been able to address threats in #Africa without taking focus on primary challenges, pacing threat from #China and also #Russia

Expect potential increase of US engagement in West Africa "even as all our partners are recalibrating there," & recent coups, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

Says effort will NOT likely involve more troops

Looking back, the #Syria|n Democratic Forces (#SDF) are "the best partner forces I have worked w/in 40 years...They took the training we gave them, they took the equipment we gave them & provided immediate returns" per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

Best partner forces in #Africa, #Niger's forces capable & willing, and also #Somalia's #Danab forces, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

Townsend said when asked by Somalia's new president how to get more US support, he advised, "Be more like #Ukraine & less like #Afghanistan"

#Somalia -"We're already seeing the benefits" of being back in - w/"bolder" operations & better tempo from Somali forces, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"We see #China competing mostly through economic means...mostly keeps them off the radar in the sphere of military competition" per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"We see the Chinese making military efforts across the continent" inlcu #Tanzania & some tractional in #EquitorialGuinea, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"We know they [#China] would like to have a base on the Atlantic Coast"

#Somalia's military - "They seem to be back on task. Their president seems to be focused on all the right things" per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"I have optimism for what lies ahead"

#alShabaab in the 18 months US forces were 'commuting to work' in #Somalia "got bigger, bolder, stronger...so now we've got to blunt their initiative"
per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

Points to recent incursion into #Ethiopia & new attacks in #Mogadishu

NEW: #Russia has abt 1,000 #Wagner troops in #Mali & has also brought in sophisticated air defense systems/radars, warns @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

"There are ppl there [in Mali] who has a soft spot in their heart for #Russia"

#Russia involvement in #Mali already paving the way fro increased activity from #alQaida's #JNIM, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

#Drones in #Africa - Terrorist groups in Africa making use of drones - for reconnaissance, fire direction, & used by groups before launching attacks, per @USAfricaCommand's Gen Townsend

NEW: #alShabaab incursion in #Ethiopia "largely contained" by Ethiopian forces, per @USAfricaCommand's Townsend

BUT #alShabaab fighters got up to 150 km deep into Ethiopia - "I don't believe this is a one-off" he says, calling it part of increased emphasis on external attacks

Watch out for "growing influence" by #alQaida #ISIS affiliates on the core movements

Affiliates like #alShabaab not directing core leadership "yet" but "they have, let's say, corporate board positions now" per @USAfricaCommand's Townsend

#Russia using war in #Ukraine as cover for more activity in #Africa? "I'm not loosing a lot of sleep over it" per @USAfricaCommand's Townsend

"Russia is very stretched...We've seen Wagner draw down" in #Libya to support efforts in #Ukraine, he says

#Russia not pulling forces from #Mali to support war efforts in #Ukraine but #Wagner Group presence, which was expected to grow there has not as Ukraine war has dragged on, per @USAfricaCommand's Townsend