ABIDJAN: US troops have begun to withdraw from the military-led state of Niger. The process of withdrawing troops is due to be completed by the 15 of September and Washington is now preparing to ‘abandon’ its strategic position in the Sahel (where Russia and Iran are gaining ground).

The demand for US troops to ‘exit’ came shortly after the soldiers from France, who were given their marching orders last year, by Niger’s ‘new ruling generals’, following a coup in July.

Niger had announced in March that it was ending ‘military cooperation agreement with Washington’, whilst claiming the presence of US soldiers was now “illegal”. The country has been vital base for counter-terrorism operations in the region of West Africa, with a large US drone base near the northern city of Agadez. The base reportedly cost a staggering $ 100 million to build.

Strategic position

Since the year 2019, the United States’ military employed the use of drones and aircraft, in order to carry out surveillance missions from the air base (on Agadez’s outskirts).

The missions span over vast geographical region where armed groups (particularly jihadists), operate. Aside from this, drug, human and arms trafficking are ‘fairly common’.

Service Reaper drones (from the US military) have been flying as far as the borders of neighbouring Libya, Chad, Nigeria and Mali, which have ‘limited aerial surveillance capabilities’.

Russian and Iranian advance

Niger ‘demanded’ the US troop leave the country after Washington expressed concern about “potential Nigerien relations with Russia and Iran”. The coup and subsequent breakaway from Western states, in favour of Russia, followed similar events that took place in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali.

However, Niger’s position as the world’s seventh-largest producer of ‘uranium’ will play a significant role in ‘shifting relations’ in the region.

Iran significantly increased its stock of enriched uranium in recent months, whilst simultaneously strengthening ties with Niger, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, told the Washington Post in an interview (published this month) that a US official ‘allegedly threatened’ Niamey with sanctions, if it decided to sign an agreement to sell the uranium it produces, to Tehran. Zeine added that “absolutely nothing” had been signed with Iran so far (which deals with uranium).

Limited US forces

US soldiers deployed in Niger were estimated to number 650 by the end of 2023, which included hundreds of contractors. A certain number of troops are stationed at an air base in the capital Niamey (with other foreign troops), as well as in the base near Agadez. The United States repositioned some of its troops from Niamey to Agadez, in what they say was a ‘precautionary move after the coup’.

US special forces had been working alongside the Nigerien army to fight jihadist groups before the coup took place. After the coup, Washington suspended ‘all military cooperation’.

In October of 2017, four American soldiers and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush attack, carried out by the militant Islamic State group, in the village of Tongo Tongo (near the Malian border).

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2024