US troops exit Niger’s Air Base 101 as Russia-backed Africa Corps look to expand footprint

The United States has completed the withdrawal of its military personnel from Niger’s Air Base 101 near the West African nation’s capital, Niamey, which comes ahead of its planned exit from another major drone base near the desert city of Agadez.
A joint statement by Niger’s Defense Ministry and the US Department of Defense confirmed the completion of the operation to pull out US personnel from the Air Base 101 without complications. As of last year, the over 1,000 US troops based in Niger operated from two bases, including a larger counterterrorism Air Base 201 near Agadez in central Niger, from which the exit is reportedly planned in the coming weeks. According to Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman, who serves as the director for strategy at US Africa Command, fewer than 500 remaining troops will leave the critical drone base near Agadez in August, ahead of a 15 September deadline.
The US was ordered in April to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from Niger by the ruling junta following a coup last year. Ekman and other US military leaders have said other West African nations want to work with the United States and may be open to an expanded American presence, with Ivory Coast and Ghana being hinted as examples. It comes as about 100 instructors from the Russia-backed Africa Corps have been deployed in Niger since April to train its military, a task that until recently had been led by the US and European countries. Moscow has also provided weapons to Niger, whose ruling military junta is struggling to contain jihadist insurgents.