Complete US military pullout from Niger

In accordance with the ruling junta in Niamey, the United States closed Air Base 201 in Agadez more than a month ahead of time.

On Monday, August 5, the US military left its last post in Niger in compliance with the requests of the ruling military dictatorship in this violent Sahelian nation beset by acts of terrorism. Only about 200 American components, stationed at this significant site in Agadez (North), remained in the nation following the departure of over 800 personnel from the Niamey installation at the beginning of July.

“The US military command for Africa (Africom) announced in a statement that “the withdrawal of American forces and equipment from Air Base 201 in Agadez is complete,” and that “coordination between the American and Nigerien armed forces will continue over the coming weeks to ensure that the full withdrawal is carried out as planned.” According to Pentagon deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh, “about 20 personnel are still present in Niger” as of Monday. To “prepare for the end of the withdrawal,” she said, the remaining staff members are at the US embassy in Niamey.

“This withdrawal ended [Monday] with a ceremony to transfer the facilities in the presence of officials from both countries,” Colonel-Major Mamane Sani Kiaou, the Niger army’s chief of staff, stated. “This withdrawal does not mean the end of military cooperation between the two countries ,” he said.

After Niamey declared the military cooperation agreement with the United States to be “illegal” in March, the United States started withdrawing its forces from Niger in May. AFRICOM General Kenneth Ekman declared at the end of July that the operations would be over by early August, which was earlier than planned and would allow for a departure on September 15. The American army is withdrawing by air, but some French troop convoys have to depart the nation by land and make their way to Chad, occasionally traversing regions with precarious security.

ties to Iran and Turkey

Niger has been a mainstay of French and American counter-jihadist operations in the Sahel in recent years, especially after neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso’s military coups against Western armies. Following the July 26, 2023 coup that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the Nigerien junta has pushed the French and American forces out of its territory and forged stronger ties with its neighbors Burkinabé and Mali, with whom it founded the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation.

General Abdourahamane Tiani’s dictatorship in Nigeia is redefining its foreign policy from the ground up and maintaining that its sovereignty comes first. Russia, which dispatched military hardware and instructors to Niamey in April and May, has been getting closer to the country. Burkina Faso and Mali are partners of Moscow as well. Additionally, Niger has relations to Iran and Turkey.

The last ten years have seen bloodshed from jihadist groups associated with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda wreaking havoc in the country’s west. Both Boko Haram and its rebel affiliate, the Islamic State in West Africa, have launched strikes in the southeast. A group that keeps track of combat casualties worldwide, the Armed combat Location & Event Data Project, reports that 1,500 soldiers and civilians perished in jihadist strikes in the last year, as opposed to 650 between July 2022 and July 2023.

Complete US military pullout from Niger

By b0oua

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