US begins removing troops from Niger bases ahead of September deadline

The US will remove all of its forces and equipment from a small base in Niger this weekend and fewer than 500 remaining troops will leave a critical drone base in the West African country in August, ahead of a September 15 deadline set in an agreement with the new junta, the American commander there said on Friday.

Air Force Maj Gen Kenneth Ekman said that a number of small teams of 10-20 US troops, including special operation forces, have moved to other countries in West Africa, but the bulk of the forces will go, at least initially, to Europe.

Niger's ordered removal of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for the US because it is forcing troops to abandon the critical drone base that was used for counter-terrorism missions in the Sahel.

Before the coup, Niger had been a key partner in the US fight against insurgents in the Sahel region of Africa, who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Washington is searching for a Plan B in West Africa but officials caution that US intelligence on fast-growing extremist groups in the region is dimming.

US military leaders have said other West African nations want to work with the US and may be open to an expanded American presence. Maj Gen Ekman did not give details on the locations, but other US officials have pointed to the Ivory Coast and Ghana as examples.

Maj Gen Ekman, who serves as the director for strategy at US Africa Command, is leading the American military withdrawal from the small base at the airport in Niger's capital of Niamey and from the larger counter-terrorism base in the city of Agadez.

He said there will be a ceremony on Sunday marking the completed pullout from the airport base, then those final 100 troops and the last C-17 transport aircraft will depart.

Over the past decade, the US has performed counter-terrorism and global security operations against ISIS and Al Qaeda in the West African region through two bases in Niger.

At Agadez, the US built a $110 million drone base.

Speaking to reporters from the Associated Press and Reuters from the US embassy in Niamey, Maj Gen Ekman said that while portable buildings and vehicles that are no longer useful will be left behind, a lot of larger equipment will be pulled out.

For example, he said 18 1,800kg generators worth more than $1 million each will be taken out of Agadez.

Unlike the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he said the US is not destroying equipment or facilities as it leaves.

“Our goal in the execution is, leave things in as good a state as possible,” he said.

“If we went out and left it a wreck or we went out spitefully, or if we destroyed things as we went, we’d be foreclosing options” for future security relations.

Niger’s junta ordered US forces out of the country following last July’s removal of the country’s democratically elected president by mutinous soldiers.

Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup in October, triggering US laws restricting military support and aid.

Thousands of protesters had demonstrated in Niamey and other parts of the country to demand the withdrawal of American military personnel from the country.

French forces had also been asked to leave as the junta turned to the Russian mercenary Wagner Group for security assistance.

US officials say there has been no contact between American and Russian personnel there and Maj Gen Ekman stressed he has received assurances from Niger the forces will be kept separate.

"When I last talked to a Nigerian interlocutor, he quantified the presence of Russian forces as under 100. And he also talked about when the Russians are done training them, they have told the Russians that they have to go home," Maj Gen Ekman said.