US agrees to pull troops as junta moves closer to Moscow

The United States had agreed to withdraw its more than 1,000 troops from Niger, officials said, upending its posture in West Africa where the country was home to a major drone base.

The long-expected move effectively marks a new regional gain for Russia, which has ramped up its focus on Africa and backed military regimes in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell accepted the call to remove troops in a meeting in Washington with the prime minister of the junta, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, US officials said on condition of anonymity.

They agreed that a US delegation would head within days to the capital Niamey to arrange an orderly withdrawal, the officials said. Nigerien state television earlier announced that the US officials would visit this week.

The State Department made no immediate public announcement and officials said no timeline was set to withdraw troops.

Niger was long a linchpin in the US and French strategy to combat jihadists in West Africa. The US built a base in the desert city of Agadez at a cost of US$100 million to fly a fleet of drones.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March 2023 became the highest-ranking American ever to visit Niger, vowing economic support for one of the world’s poorest countries and seeking to bolster elected president Mohamed Bazoum, a stalwart Western ally.

But the military four months later sacked Bazoum and quickly kicked out troops from former colonial power France.

Unlike its anger towards France, the junta initially sounded an openness to maintaining its long-time defence relationship with the United States.

President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has refused to mute concerns, insisting on the return of civilian rule and the release of Bazoum.

Russian military instructors arrived in Niger this month with an air defence system and other equipment, state media said, after talks between military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The military had announced last month in a statement on state television that it was breaking off a defence agreement with the US with immediate effect.

But diplomats said that the Nigerian leadership had sent mixed messages and the US initially said it was awaiting confirmation.