Jihadis Celebrate Gabon Coup, Latest In Africa, As Sign Of Waning Western Power; Supporters Of Iran-Backed Militias Rejoice Over Rising Influence Of Russia And China; Syrian Jihadis Denounce Both Russia And West, Hope For More Coups Against Arab Regimes

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On August 30, 2023, a military junta overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had served as president of the Central African country of Gabon since 2009, shortly after the announcement of his reelection. Bongo and his family members were placed under house arrest, while the parliament was dissolved, the country's borders closed, and General Brice Oligui Nguema declared interim president.

Bongo under house arrest after being deposed.

The coup in Gabon made the country the most recent former French colony in Africa to have its government overthrown, following Mali,[1] Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Tunisia,[2] and Niger,[3] all of which saw coups in the past three years.

Among those commenting on the Gabon coup were jihadis, including supporters of Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, Syrian rebels, and Islamic State (ISIS) supporters. All of them celebrated the deposition of the pro-France Gabonese president and described the overthrowal of pro-France African rulers as a sign of waning French and Western influence in the continent in favor of Russia and China. However, while supporters of Iran-backed groups welcomed Russian and Chinese involvement as better serving the interests of Africans, Syrian jihadis claimed that both the West and Russia exploit underdeveloped countries. One post by a Syrian jihadi hoped that similar revolutions will spread to Arab countries as well, while a pro-ISIS channel commented on the decline of French influence and the rise of Russia's with indifference.

Iran-Backed Groups: Coups In Gabon And Other African Countries Demonstrate Worldwide Decline Of France And 'Liberal Western Minority,' Russia And China Will Increase Influence Based On 'Pluralism And Shared Interests'

The Althawrah daily newspaper, published by Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis), published an article on August 31 about the recent coups in Gabon and other African countries, titled "Volcano of Coups Shakes French Influence in Africa." The article predicts further coups in African nations, due to "escalating anger" over French and Western "colonialism" and the plundering of natural resources, which has continued following these countries' formal independence. It adds that the West's failure to stop the July 26 coup in Niger emboldened Gabon's military to seize power, predicting that French and Western influence in Africa will continue to decline, either due to military coups or political and economic changes, while Russia and China will increase their influence, creating "new alliances based on pluralism and shared interests, in place of unilateralism and the political monopoly of great powers."[4]

The "Writing and Analysis" Telegram channel, which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq, celebrated the "blessed military coup by the people and army of Gabon against the government of the French occupation in Gabon," claiming it as the most recent manifestation of the West's defeats. The channel claimed the West is losing in Ukraine, where "Russia is crushing the NATO alliance combined," as well as in the BRICS countries, Latin America, and West Asia, and now in Africa, where it is being "exhausted and expelled." It added: "Are we not correct when we describe them as 'the liberal Western minority and its colonies'?"[5]

Syrian Jihadis Claim Africans Are Rising Up Against French And Western Control, Russia And The West Both Exploit Nations; Wish For Revolutions To Spread To Arab World

Commenting on the coup in Gabon, which came only a month after the Niger coup, Syrian jihadi Abu Muhammad Nasr asserted that "the African nations want to be liberated from Western, especially French, hegemony." He added that the main beneficiary of these coups is Russia, which is gaining influence in Africa at the expense of the West, and further claimed that both Russia and the West "work to plunder the countries' resources and impoverish the nations."[6]

Another Syrian jihadi, Khalil Al-Muqda