US troops to completely withdraw from Niger base on Sunday

The United States is set to complete the withdrawal of troops and equipment from an air base in Niamey, the capital of the West African nation of Niger, on Sunday, and the two countries will hold a joint ceremony to mark the occasion.

The next step for the United States is to withdraw from the drone base in Niger, which is scheduled to be completed in August.

The withdrawal was to comply with a Sept. 15 deadline agreed upon by the United States and Niger’s ruling junta after Niger’s new military leaders ordered U.S. troops to leave following a coup in Niamey last year.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman, who is in Niger coordinating the evacuation, told reporters in a video conference that the bulk of U.S. forces in Niger will be moved to Europe, but he said small groups of U.S. troops have been moved to other West African countries.

Although the United States has removed some valuable equipment from its base in Niger, it has not destroyed the remaining equipment and facilities. Ekman is hopeful for the future, saying: “Our goal is to keep it as intact as possible.”

“If we go out and make a mess of it, or we go out with bad intentions, or we destroy things on the way out, we lose the options that we need for the future of both countries. And our security goals remain closely linked.”

The withdrawal — especially from drone bases — is a blow to the U.S. and its counterterrorism mission in the Sahel, a vast region in Africa where insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operate.

Aikman, the chief of strategy for U.S. Africa Command, said other African countries concerned about the threat from insurgents in the Sahel have approached the United States about how they can work with U.S. forces to fight the militants.

“Niger is very helpful to us because it is in the Sahel region, adjacent to where the threat is most concentrated,” Aikman said.

He said the challenge will now be more difficult because access to the area will have to be from outside Niger.

Some of the information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.

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