US to withdraw its troops from Niger, source says

20/4/2024 13:21

        The United States will withdraw its troops from Niger, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters late on Friday, adding an agreement was reached between U.S Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Niger's leadership.
        
        There were a little over 1,000 U.S. troops in Niger as of last year, where the U.S. military operated out of two bases, including a drone base known as Air Base 201 built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million.
        
        Since 2018, the base has been used to target Islamic State militants and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, an al Qaeda affiliate, in the Sahel region.
        Last year, Niger's army seized power in a coup. Until the coup, Niger had remained a key security partner of the United States and France.
        
        But the new authorities in Niger joined juntas in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time Western allies like Washington and Paris, quitting the regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS and fostering closer ties with Russia.