The United States DoS has donated more than $8 million in military equipment including MK7 Mamba 4×4 armored vehicles to Niger in a ceremony August 5, 2020. The equipment will aid the West African nation and its G5 Sahel Joint Force partners in the fight against terrorism in the region.
The military equipment donated by the United States includes 15 Osprea MK7 MAMBA 4×4 wheeled armored personnel carriers, four Osprea MK7 MAMBA armored command vehicles, three Osprea MK7 MAMBA armored ambulances, two Toyota land criser ambulances, and four armored vehicle mechanic toolsets. The U.S. will also provide maintenance support for the equipment.
The G5 Sahel Joint Force member countries are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The Joint Force’s missions include combating counterterrorism, transnational organized crime, and trafficking in the Sahel, a region that has seen an increase in violence since 2017.