US says troops are leaving Niger bases this weekend

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will take away all its forces and gear from a small base in Niger this weekend and fewer than 500 remaining troops will depart a essential drone base within the West African nation in August, forward of a Sept. 15 deadline set in an settlement with the brand new ruling junta, the American commander there stated Friday.

Air Drive Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman stated in an interview that quite a lot of small groups of 10-20 U.S. troops, together with particular operations forces, have moved to different international locations in West Africa. However the bulk of the forces will go to Europe, at the least initially.

Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup final 12 months has broad ramifications for the U.S. as a result of it’s forcing troops to desert the essential drone base that was used for counterterrorism missions within the Sahel, an enormous area south of the Sahara desert the place teams linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group function.

Ekman and different U.S. army leaders have stated different West African nations wish to work with the U.S. and could also be open to an expanded American presence. He didn’t element the areas, however different U.S. officers have pointed to the Ivory Coast and Ghana as examples.

Ekman, who serves because the director for technique at U.S. Africa Command, is main the U.S. army withdrawal from the small base on the airport in Niger’s capital of Niamey and from the bigger counterterrorism base within the metropolis of Agadez. He stated there can be a ceremony Sunday marking the finished pullout from the airport base, then the ultimate 100 troops and the final C-17 transport plane will depart.

Beneath the junta settlement, two-thirds of U.S. troops and gear should be overseas by July 26, Ekman stated. That deadline, which compelled the Pentagon to maneuver rapidly, is a key cause why U.S. Africa Command will full its withdrawal of all 1,000 troops from Niger early.

Nevertheless it additionally leaves a counterterrorism hole that U.S. officers are struggling to fill as safety threats from extremist teams within the Sahel develop.

A type of teams, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, referred to as JNIM, is lively in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and is seeking to broaden into Benin and Togo. These growth areas may very well be used initially as hubs to relaxation, recuperate, get financing and collect weapons, based on U.S. officers, however the group additionally has elevated assaults there.

“Niger was immensely useful for us as a location as a result of it was within the Sahel and it was adjoining to these areas the place the menace is most concentrated,” Ekman stated. Now, he stated, the problem is battling the insurgency whereas having to get entry from exterior Niger, which makes it harder.

He stated different coastal West African nations are involved concerning the Sahel-based threats and wish to discuss how they will associate with American forces. Ekman added that the small groups of U.S. troops shifting to different West African nations aren’t fight forces however advisers, in addition to particular operations, personnel restoration and intelligence and surveillance forces.

Talks with different nations proceed, and Ekman stated some could also be however not prepared to permit in additional U.S. troops. One instance, he stated, is Togo, which is southwest of Niger on the coast.

“In Togo, what I discover is a associate that’s pleasant to the U.S. however that proper now’s unresolved on the diploma they need the presence of any extra U.S. army personnel there,” he stated. “My evaluation was, ‘Not but.’”

Talking to reporters from The Related Press and Reuters from the U.S. embassy in Niamey, Ekman stated that whereas transportable buildings and autos which are not helpful can be left behind when U.S. troops depart Niger, loads of bigger gear can be pulled out. For instance, he stated 18 4,000-pound (1,800-kilograms) mills value greater than $1 million every can be taken out of Agadez.

In contrast to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he stated the U.S. is just not destroying gear or services because it leaves.

“Our objective within the execution is, depart issues in pretty much as good a state as potential,” he stated. “If we went out and left it a wreck or we went out spitefully, or if we destroyed issues as we went, we’d be foreclosing choices” for future safety relations.

Niger’s ruling junta ordered U.S. forces overseas within the wake of final July’s ouster of the nation’s democratically elected president by mutinous troopers. French forces had additionally been requested to depart because the junta turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for safety help.

Washington formally designated the army takeover as a coup in October, triggering U.S. legal guidelines limiting the army assist and support.

Ekman stated he has been informed that there are fewer than 100 Russian troops on the base close to in Niamey and that when they’re finished coaching Niger troops, they can even depart the nation.