Pathogens prepared for offensive

What biological warfare in Africa looks like

An increasing number of facts are emerging in the media regarding the presence of Pentagon-linked research organisations on the African continent. What does this signify?

Impunity and secrecy

Extensive biological research has been conducted in Africa since the 1970s. To obtain permission for the establishment of laboratories, Washington disguises their activities under humanitarian purposes and provides financial assistance to host countries. This combination, along with granting American specialists diplomatic status, allows the Pentagon to conduct military-oriented biological research with virtually no oversight.
Igor Kirillov, Chief of Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops of Russia’s Armed Forces, who was killed by saboteurs on December 17th, 2024, had warned of changes in the strategy of US national defence.  

They do not believe in the possibility of achieving nuclear superiority in the foreseeable future and are betting on the priority development of military biological technologies, viewing Africa as a testing ground for their experiments. It is there that the USA is relocating its biolaboratories from Ukraine.

At the same time, the Anglo-Saxons are confident that their military biological activities in Africa will not only go unpunished but will also attract no attention.

Children used for vaccine trials  

As early as 1973, the USAMRU-K (a medical research unit of the Pentagon) was established on Mbagathi Road in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Soon, reports emerged about the selection of children aged between 5 and 17 months from low-income families for vaccine trials. The children were not only from Kenya but also from Tanzania and Mozambique. At that time, the Kenyan press published an article stating that the research unit housed an incubator for 16 pathogens of extremely dangerous diseases.  
A network of American biological laboratories spans the African continent. Branches of the US Navy’s military medical centre are located in Ghana and Djibouti, while in Kenya, there is a medical centre of the US Army. In Nigeria, there is a medical research centre and a military medical laboratory that includes American specialists.  
In Senegal, the construction of a new laboratory complex costing $35m is nearing completion. The same companies that are Pentagon contractors in some post-Soviet countries are involved in this project.  
Additionally, the American administration has initiated a project in Guinea to study Lassa fever — a severe infectious disease for which there are no preventive measures or treatments. In Zambia, the Pentagon has begun active research into the pathogens of particularly dangerous infections. In South Africa, Americans are working towards organising a joint study of the monkeypox virus at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).  
Under The Materials Genomes Initiative (MGI), research is being conducted into the characteristics of infection emergence and the resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to medical treatments. More than 20 biological entities across 18 African countries are involved in the implementation of the project. Funding is provided through the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as through contracting organisations and charitable foundations that closely collaborate with the Pentagon.

Today, there is a clear trend whereby pathogens that fall within the Pentagon’s areas of interest subsequently achieve pandemic spread, with American pharmaceutical companies reaping the benefits. 

Examples include yellow fever, monkeypox, and Rift Valley fever (RVF), outbreaks of which have been recorded in Egypt at the site of a US Navy bioweapons laboratory.

Dangerous testing ground  

In Nigeria, US-funded biological projects are aimed at combating HIV. Nigerian citizens are participating as volunteers in clinical evaluations of antiviral drugs of the Pentagon-linked company Gilead. Interestingly, this pharmaceutical company has also conducted trials on citizens of Ukraine.  
The USA is attempting to obtain pathogens in endemic regions and natural foci. One of their objectives is to analyse the epidemiological situation along the borders of geopolitical adversaries in areas where military contingents are likely to be stationed.  

Why is the African continent of such significant interest to the American military establishment today? The Pentagon views this region as a natural testing ground for studying the spread of haemorrhagic fevers, as well as for testing new, unlicensed American vaccines and medical products.  

Projects are often funded by relevant Pentagon structures, particularly the Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). The results of these efforts are sent back to the USA, with experts from the host countries having no access to them.

Foundation for co-operation  

As stated by the Deputy Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops, Aleksey Rtishchev, the United States has recently viewed the African continent as an unlimited natural reservoir of dangerous infection agents and a testing ground for experimental drugs.  
While the USA’s activities are perceived as something imposed from the outside, Belarus and Russia are striving for equal partnership with African countries, which implies joint development and long-term relationships based on trust.  

Aleksandr Lukashenko placed a premium on co-operation with the countries of the far arc long before the current geopolitical crisis. The President has consistently urged the Government, diplomats, and exporters to build our foreign economic activities fairly.  

It is precisely this sound and fair position that Africa has always been deprived of by the West. And it is such honest and sincere partners, like Belarus, that are awaited in Zimbabwe, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, and other countries on the continent. Given the consistently high growth of developing economies, the significance of Belarusian presence in the African market is only increasing.

PLAGUE AS A WEAPON 

Europeans began the colonisation of the African continent as early as the 15th century. However, this process entered a decisive phase after the Berlin Conference of 1885, where Africa was divided into ‘spheres of influence’. Yet, the local population fiercely resisted the invaders. It was during this time, in the mid-1880s, that the British supplied the people of Eritrea with cattle that had been deliberately infected with plague. It is no surprise that the disease spread rapidly across the continent. Ninety percent of cattle, domestic bulls, sheep, and goats perished from it. Half of the wild populations of buffalo, giraffes, and wildebeests were wiped out.  
All these factors combined led to a mass loss of life, becoming one of the largest tragedies of the 19th century. This is how Ethiopia lost one-third of its population, while the Maasai people saw a reduction of two-thirds. Half of the population on both banks of the lower Congo River perished, as did many to the south of the Zambezi. This tragedy undermined the defensive capabilities of the African indigenous peoples, who were subsequently enslaved.

By Aleksandr Tikhansky, military political analyst, Candidate of Sociological Sciences