US forces will complete a withdrawal from Air Base 101 in Niger on Sunday, but several hundred other troops will remain at a second air base in the country through September a US military official said.
The official confirmed reports about US forces leaving Air Base 101 near Niamey by Sunday.
However, the official noted that a majority of some 500 US troops currently in Niger are stationed at the $100 million drone base, Air Base 201, near the northern city of Agadez, adding that those troops will remain in the country through September.
“They will also close down 201 as well, but the priority was 101 in Niamey first, followed by 201. AB 201 withdrawal will be complete no later than 15 September,” the official said.
The US military withdrawal was initiated in March after the country’s transitional government, which took power from a US-backed regime in July 2023, had terminated the military agreement with the United States with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.
In May, the two sides announced they had reached a disengagement agreement after several days of talks between a delegation from the US Department of “Defense” and Nigerien counterparts in Niamey.
In an exclusive interview for The Washington Post, Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine revealed in May that ties with the US significantly deteriorated due to US officials’ attempt to dictate Niger’s foreign partnership choices, in addition to failing to provide adequate justification for the stationing of US forces in the country.
Niger has already overseen the withdrawal of troops from France, the former colonial power, and has turned to other partners to provide instructors and equipment.
In other news, Niger’s military leader Abdourahamane Tiani made it clear on Saturday that the people of his country, along with neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, have “irrevocably turned their backs” on the West African regional bloc.
The comments were made at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), established by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso after they withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year.
“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” stated Tiani to his fellow Sahel leaders, Burkina Faso’s military-led President Ibrahim Traore and Malian Colonel Assimi Goita, who all came to power through military uprisings between 2020 and 2023, at the gathering’s opening in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
The three AES countries accuse ECOWAS of being manipulated by former colonial ruler France, in collusion with US imperialism, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a “community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers.”
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso’s military leaders have all sought to reject French influence, expelling French troops from their countries and turning instead toward what they call their “sincere partners.” They emphasize sovereignty as a guiding principle of their governance and aim to establish a common currency.
The trio also accuses ECOWAS of not doing enough to combat salafist insurgencies, a recurring problem in the Sahel.