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Niger is still in the grip of agitations. Recently, hundreds of people demonstrated in Northern Niger calling for the immediate departure of the 1,000 American troops based there, even as the U.S. says it will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger.
A U.S. official on condition of anonymity said that there was no timeline set for withdrawal. H further revealed that talks for withdrawal would start soon. An American delegation to coordinate the details of the withdrawal process will be dispatched soon, he revealed. The US has a military base in Niger, in the city of Agadez, about 920 kilometers from the capital, Niamey. There is a considerable presence of Jihadi groups in the Sahel region, which pledge allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups.
The US uses the base for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. The U.S. has also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since it began operations there in 2013.
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Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security. Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and with Russian equipment to train Nigeriens to use. There was an attempt on behalf of the U.S. to revise the military agreement with Niger that would allow them to stay in the U.S. But it seems to have failed.
