Dakar, Senegal — The United States will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger, US officials said on Saturday, in what experts consider a blow to Washington and its allies in the region in terms of carrying out security operations in the Sahel. The planned departure comes as U.S. officials said they were trying to find a new military agreement.
Niger’s Prime Minister, appointed by the ruling military junta, Ali Lamine Zeine, and US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell agreed on Friday that the two nations would begin planning the withdrawal of US troops, he said. the U.S. State Department told Associated Press in an email Saturday.
US authorities did not give any deadline for their withdrawal. An American delegation to coordinate the details of the withdrawal process will be sent soon.
Niger plays a central role in US military operations in Africa’s Sahel region, an area on the edge of the Sahara desert. Washington is concerned about the spread of jihadist violence, where local groups have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and Islamic State groups. Niger is home to a major US air base in the city of Agadez, about 920 kilometers (550 miles) from the capital, Niamey, which uses it for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. The US has also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s armed forces since it began operations in the country in 2013.
But relations between Niger and Western countries have frayed since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and has instead turned to Russia for safety. Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and with Russian equipment to train Nigerians.
There was an attempt by the US to review the military agreement with Niger that would allow them to stay, US officials told the AP. But the agreement between Zeine and Campbell shows that the effort has failed.
The loss of access to air bases in Niger is a major setback for the US and its allies in the region due to their strategic location for security operations in the Sahel, said Peter Pham, former US special envoy for the Sahel region.
“In the short term, they will be difficult to replace,” Pham said, adding that the European Union’s remaining military presence would likely withdraw from Niger following news of the U.S. withdrawal.
A breakdown in relations between the two nations would impact development and humanitarian aid funds going to Niger, a country that is at the bottom of many indicators of well-being, Pham said.
Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who assists Niger’s military rulers with their communications, told the AP that American troops could return after negotiations and that Niger’s ruling junta, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Fatherland, wants to maintain a good job relationship with the US
The U.S. must find a new mode of engagement that moves away from the failed model of counterterrorism cooperation of the last decade and continues to press other states in the Sahel region on accountability and human rights abuses, said Hannah Rae Armstrong, senior adviser to the peace in the Sahel. and security.
The two officials said Niger and the US will continue to work together in areas of common interest.
___ Sam Mednick in Jerusalem and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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