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The Pentagon said that the US Congress has not received a formal request from Niger’s junta to depart the country. The Pentagon clarified that so far it got only mixed signals from the Sahel country ruled by a military junta and is facing sanctions.
The Pentagon said that the US Congress has not received a formal request from Niger’s junta to depart the country. The Pentagon clarified that so far it got only mixed signals from the Sahel country ruled by a military junta and is facing sanctions.
Celeste Wallander, US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee recently that so far Niger’s ruling military council has not formally asked the U.S. military to leave. Earlier, the CNSP said the status of the forces agreement, which sets the terms of a U.S. military presence in a country, was now null and void. However, US authorities maintained that the junta had assured that American military forces were protected and they would take no action that would endanger them.
The U.S. military has about 650 troops and another several hundred support personnel still in Niger, which in the past has been a critical hub for counterterrorism operations. But last July junta ousted the country’s democratically elected president and months later asked French forces to leave. Wallander said the U.S. is continuing to look at ways to conduct operations against violent extremist organizations in the region.
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In Niger, U.S. personnel have largely consolidated to one base and continue to run drone operations, but those are limited to force protection, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said. The quick turn of relations had some U.S. lawmakers questioning how Niger could go from a strategic ally to being run by a junta in such a short time.
