WASHINGTON, United States: The United States Friday agreed to demands from Niger’s junta to withdraw its over 1,000 troops, officials said.
The decision will upend the US posture in the longtime host of drones in Africa.
Kurt Campbell, the Deputy Secretary of State accepted the call to remove troops in a Washington meeting with the prime minister of the junta, US officials told media on condition of anonymity.
It is to mention here that the junta had sacked the elected government last year.
Both sides agreed that a US delegation would visit within days to the capital Niamey to arrange an orderly withdrawal. Nigerien state television earlier said that the US officials would visit next week.
Niger has long been at the center of the US and French strategy to fight jihadists in West Africa. The United States has built a $100 million base in the desert city of Agadez to fly a fleet of drones.
Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken visited Niger in March 2023 to show and reinforce support for President Mohamed Bazoum, a key Western ally.
However, the army sacked Bazoum after four months and quickly drove the army of its former colonial power, France out.
The military regime, like those of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, has sought closer ties with Russia.
