Niger: US to withdraw ‘illegal’ troops by mid-September amid Sahel region’s pivot to Russia

The US troops will leave Niger “no later” than 15 September, both countries have announced in a joint statement, which comes amid strengthening ties between Niamey and Moscow.
The order to end the “illegal” presence of the close 1,000 US troops and withdraw them from the Sahel country came last month after Washington expressed concern about “potential Nigerian relations with Russia and Iran”. Following marathon talks between the US and Nigerian officials in Niamey, the two countries have announced in a joint statement on Sunday (19 May) that Washington will pull all its troops out of the West African country within the next four months or so after the ruling military junta ordered them to leave. The statement also commended the “joint sacrifices of Nigerian and US forces in the fight against terrorism”, adding that both countries “are committed to ongoing diplomatic dialogue to define the future of their bilateral relations.”
The military coup d’état in Niger last July that overthrew the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and subsequent breakaway from Western countries in favor of strengthening ties with Russia follows similar moves in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali. In March, Niger’s ruling junta announced the end of its military agreement with the US, with military spokesperson Col Amadou Abdramane condemning Washington for its “condescending attitude” and “threat of reprisals”. US forces have used a $100m military base in the central city of Agadez to monitor Islamist militant groups in the Sahel. Russian military instructors have recently arrived in Niger as part of a new deal. Nigerian public has long been hostile to — with about two-thirds disagreeing with — the presence of foreign forces on the country’s territory, according to an Afrobarometer 2022 survey.