Russia accuses U.S. of expanding biological weapons research in Africa

Russia is now accusing the United States of expanding its bioweapons research on the African continent.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, made this claim earlier in the week based on information his troops have garnered. The information alleges that the U.S. is shifting gears after similar programs that America had underway in former Ukrainian territories were stopped by Russia during the conflict there.

Kirillov stated: “Because Russia has managed to halt the implementation of biological warfare programs in Ukraine’s liberated territories, the Pentagon is forced to transfer incomplete research under Ukrainian projects to other regions.”

He claimed that U.S. Department of Defense contractors are working on such programs in a number of African countries, including as South Africa, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to Kirillov, the U.S. works with outside parties in an attempt to obscure this activity. They named a number of intermediaries, such as EcoHealth Alliance and Metabiota, that they believe are being used as part of the expanded bioweapon biological warfare programs in Africa.

He also identified several examples to support his claims. For example, he pointed to U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases staff carrying out a large-scale study of hantavirus from bats in Kenya last October.

In a more recent example, he cited a meeting between officials from the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services with disease control officials in Africa to explore the possibility of developing lab capabilities there.

In the past, Kirillov has accused the U.S. of carrying out research on dangerous pathogens and components of bioweapons in Ukraine.

Biological research facilities around the world

There are believed to be more than 300 “biological research facilities” run by the Pentagon throughout the world, and Africa is considered to be a hot spot. In many cases, these facilities are set up under the pretense of improve the area’s health services or fighting local epidemics, but the involvement of agencies like the Pentagon indicates something more is going on.

Russian military intelligence maintains that there are at least four American bio labs in Nigeria alone, and Kirillov has drawn attention in the past to what he termed a “strange coincidence” of epidemic outbreaks in the area surrounding the facilities.

There have also been reports of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Forest Glen Park, Maryland carrying out activities at the facilities belonging to the Nigerian Ministry of Defense. This involves testing dangerous pathogens that could be exposing countless Nigerians to a major biohazard.

Kirillov even went so far as to call on the World Health Organization to look into the activities at labs in the Nigerian cities of Lagos, Zaria and Abuja funded by the U.S. and share its findings with the world.

U.S. accuses Russia of disinformation

The U.S. insists these labs are harmless and has accused Russia of being “engaged in disinformation,” suggesting it could be part of a broader plan to further its efforts in Ukraine.

“The U.S. Government is concerned that this false narrative may be a prelude for a false-flag operation where Russia itself uses biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and then attempts to blame it on Ukraine and/or the United States,” the State Department’s Global Engagement Center warned last year.

It added that “Russia continues to maintain an offensive biological weapons program in violation of its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention.”

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

GlobalResearch.ca

State.gov