The US agreed on Friday to withdraw more than 1,000 troops from Niger, officials said, shifting its position in West Africa where the country hosts a major drone base.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kurt Campbell received the call to withdraw the force in a meeting in Washington with the junta’s prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, US officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
They agreed a US delegation would leave for the capital Niamey within days to organize an orderly withdrawal. Niger’s state television previously announced that US officials would visit next week.
Niger has long been a central point in the US and French strategy to counter jihadists in West Africa. The United States built a base in the desert city of Agadez at a cost of $100 million to operate a fleet of drones.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger in March 2023 in an effort to show support and strengthen president Mohamed Bazoum, a key Western ally.
But four months later, the military dismissed Bazoum and immediately expelled troops from the former colonial power France.
The junta, like military governments in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, also seeks closer ties with Russia. (AFP/Z-3)
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