US completes troop withdrawal from Niger

U.S. forces have completed a troop withdrawal from Niger after the country fell to a coup in 2023 and demanded American service members exit the country, a setback for Washington in its counterterrorism fight in the Sahel.

The Pentagon and Niger’s national defense department released a joint statement Monday saying the withdrawal from Airbase 201 in the city of Agadez was complete, a month earlier than a previous prediction.

American troops left the base in good condition and in an improved state for defense, according to the release.

The U.S. withdrawal began in May after negotiations between Niamey and Washington since the July 2023 coup led to the military junta seeking a full exit. And it comes weeks after the U.S. withdrew from its first base near Niamey.

Niger is now headed by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, who led the military coup that ousted the former President Mohamed Bazoum last year.

Tchiani has been more hostile to Western nations, also forcing the French to withdraw troops from Niger at the end of 2023.

Niger has since moved closer to Russia, inviting Russian military trainers and advisers to the country earlier this year.

The Niger coup follows several countries in the volatile Sahel region that have fallen to military juntas in recent years, including Mali and Burkina Faso.

The developments have endangered U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Gen. Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the U.S. will seek to cooperate with other countries in the region or nearby to ensure the threat of terrorism and insurgent groups doesn’t rise.

U.S. troops had been operating in Niger since 2002, part of an effort to train forces in Africa to combat terrorism. That mission expanded around 2011 and the airbase in Agadez finished construction in 2019. There were about 1,000 U.S. troops stationed in Niger before the withdrawal.

The U.S. presence in Niger came under scrutiny in 2017 when an Islamic State ambush killed four American troops and four Nigerien fighters.

Updated: 12:45 p.m.