The United States agreed last Friday to withdraw its more than 1,000 troops from Niger, officials said, upending its posture in West Africa where the country was home to a major drone base.
The long-expected move effectively marks a new regional gain for Russia, which has ramped up its focus on Africa and backed military regimes in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso. This April, Military instructors and personnel from Russia’s defence ministry arrived in Nigér, signaling that the West African country is building closer relations with Moscow like its junta-led neighbours. The military instructors are bringing an air defense system and will train the Nigerien troops.
The arrival of Russian instructors follows Niger’s decision in mid-March to revoke its military accord with the United States that had allowed Pentagon personnel to operate on its soil out of two bases, including a drone base it built at a cost of more than $100 million.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell accepted the call to remove troops in a meeting in Washington with the prime minister of the junta, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, US officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
They agreed that a US delegation would head within days to the capital Niamey to arrange an orderly withdrawal, the officials said. Nigerien state television earlier announced that the US officials would visit next week.
The State Department made no immediate public announcement and officials said no timeline was yet set to withdraw the troops.
Niger was long a linchpin in the US and French strategy to combat jihadists in West Africa. The United States built a drone base in the desert city of Agadez at the cost of $100 million to fly a fleet of drones.
The US has had a significant military presence in Niger, with at least 650 personnel stationed there. In 2016, the US invested approximately $100 million in constructing a drone base in Agadez, a major intelligence hub in Western Africa. This facility, crucial for surveillance operations against Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked militants, now faces operational disruptions following Niger’s airspace closure.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March 2023 became the highest-ranking American ever to visit Niger, vowing economic support for one of the world’s poorest countries and seeking to bolster elected president Mohamed Bazoum, a stalwart Western ally.
But the military four months later sacked Bazoum and quickly kicked out troops from former colonial power France. The Sahel region has been plagued by jihadist activity, leading to instability and coups in Niger and neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which have now formed a military alliance. The Nigerien army’s overthrow of elected President Mohamed Bazoum last July, citing security concerns, and the subsequent departure of French troops, mark a significant shift in the country’s military and foreign policy.
Unlike its anger toward France, the junta initially sounded an openness to maintaining its longtime defense relationship with the United States.
President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has refused to mute concerns, insisting on the return of civilian rule and the release of Bazoum. After the July coup, the U.S. temporarily halted drone operations but has recently managed to resume a portion of these missions, primarily focused on ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) flights for force protection rather than direct counter-terrorism activities.
Meanwhile, in the wake of a recent coup in Niger, the United States and France are actively exploring alternative countries to host their drone bases for counter-terrorism and surveillance missions. The coup in the West African nation has led to a significant reevaluation of their military presence in the region.
Russian military instructors arrived in Niger this month with an air defense system and other equipment, state media said, after talks between military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Nigerien military had announced last month in a statement on state television that it was breaking off a defense agreement with the United States with immediate effect.
But diplomats said the Nigerian leadership had sent mixed messages and the United States initially said it was awaiting confirmation.
The United States puts a high priority on troops’ safety, and concerns rose last week when thousands rallied outside the National Assembly headquarters chanting for US troops to leave.
Despite maintaining dialogue with the junta, the United States has for months been preparing for the likelihood it will need to exit Niger.
General James Hecker, the US Air Force commander for both Europe and Africa, said late last year that the United States was in discussions for “several locations” elsewhere in West Africa to station drones.
While not publicly asking to station drones, the United States has pursued close cooperation with coastal democracies including Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast in view of possibly locating a drone base.
Western governments feared that the remote Sahel will offer a new hub for Islamist militants after jihadists overran much of Mali in 2012 as part of a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs.
With Niger seen as comparatively stable, the United States based its drones in Agadez, building the site known as Air Base 101.
The United States resumed drone operations after the July coup in Niger but one of its main functions soon became surveillance for the sake of protecting the US troops based there.
With support from both parties, the United States in recent years has been retrenching its once sprawling military network set up as part of the “war on terror” following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Representative Matt Gaetz, a hard-right Republican known for his brash statements, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Niger was an “extraordinary Biden foreign policy failure” and urged the safe withdrawal of troops.
Last October, French military forces began their withdrawal from Niger, with the first group of troops departing for France under the protection of the Nigerien Armed Forces.
French soldiers left their bases in Niger in a ground convoy under local escort, “heading for Chad”, said the military regime in power in Niamey since the end of July. This operation aims to bring all French soldiers back to France by the end of 2023. The withdrawal follows last month’s announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that France would recall its ambassador and end all military cooperation with Niger in response to a coup.
Niger had been a key security partner for both France and the United States, who used the country as a base to combat Islamist insurgents in the wider Sahel region of West and Central Africa. The departure of French forces represents a significant shift in the security landscape of the region.
French military involvement in the Sahel region had been part of Operation Barkhane, which aimed to counter Islamist extremist groups. However, the coup in Niger and the resulting diplomatic tensions have led to the end of this mission. The impact of the withdrawal on security efforts in the Sahel is substantial.
Some 1,400 French soldiers and airmen were deployed in the country to fight jihadists alongside European Union forces, and the Nigeriens, including around 1,000 in Niamey and 400 at two forward bases in the west, at Ouallam and Tabarey-Barey, in the heart of the so-called “three borders” zone with Mali and Burkina Faso.