The United States agrees to withdraw its forces from Niger
The United States has agreed to withdraw its military forces from Niger, according to US officials.
The US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell agreed to the Nigerien authorities’ request to withdraw US forces, during a meeting in Washington with Nigerien Prime Minister Ali al Amin Zein.
During his arrival last Tuesday in Washington and his meeting with officials at the US State Department, the Nigerien official confirmed, “in clear language and without prohibitions, that Niger’s sovereign decision requested the departure of all foreign forces, including US forces”.
The US and Nigerien sides agreed to send a US delegation to Niamey in the coming days, to discuss the details of the withdrawal of forces, which number more than 1,000 soldiers, participating in the fight against armed groups.
The US forces operate in Niger from two military bases, one of which is a drone base known as “Air Base 201,” which was built near Agadez in the center of the country at a cost of more than $100 million.
This base has been used since 2018 to target members of the Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Groups in the Sahel region.
Last March, the Nigerien transitional authorities suspended a military cooperation agreement signed in 2012 with the United States, considering that Washington had “unilaterally imposed it”.
Before that, the new Nigerian government had agreed in January 2024 to strengthen defense cooperation with Russia, after it expelled French forces from its territory.
In return, Russia expanded its influence on the African continent, and its forces became known as the “Africa Corps” instead of the Wagner Group, as last Friday, the Corps confirmed its arrival in Niger.
According to the Nigerien official TV channel which showed footage of a Russian cargo plane shortly after its landing at Niamey Airport, noting “the arrival of the latest batch of military equipment and military trainers from the Russian Ministry of Defense”ز
The head of the Nigerian Military Council, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26, and they discussed security and strategic cooperation in confronting current threats, according to what was issued by the Kremlin and the Niamey authorities as well.
