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2024-05-09 Africa North

Pentagon chief Austin says US will withdraw troops from Niger

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The United States of America will have to withdraw all its troops from Niger, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on May 8 at a hearing in the Appropriations Committee of the US Senate.

“You mentioned that we are forced to leave Niger. We will leave Niger,” he said.

As Regnum reported, in March the Niger authorities terminated the military agreement with the United States, which allowed American military personnel to remain in the country. Niger's Interior Minister Mohamed Toumba said the country is interested in the Russian military training its troops.

On May 3, Reuters, citing a Pentagon representative, reported that Russian military personnel entered the air base in Niamey. On the same day, a source in the security forces of the African state clarified that the US military had declared increased combat readiness due to the deployment of Russian troops in Niger.

Later, the head of the Pentagon said that the United States was closely monitoring the situation with the presence of Russian military personnel at the air base in Niger. According to him, the Russian military is located in a separate complex. He added that he does not yet see this as a significant problem in terms of protecting American forces.

The United States tried to the last to maintain a military presence in Niger, and the authorities in Niamey had to begin deploying the Russian contingent before the Pentagon removed its personnel. At the same time, with the departure of the Americans, it is likely that Niger’s military cooperation with Russia will further deepen. Ivan Loshkarev, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Political Elites at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO, shared this opinion with a Regnum correspondent.

Posted by badanov 2024-05-09 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 CBS News:
Why the military withdrawal from Niger is a "devastating blow" to the U.S., and likely a win for Russia
By Sarah Carter

April 22, 2024 / 11:06 AM EDT / CBS News

Johannesburg — After investing more than $1 billion in Niger over a decade, the U.S. military has agreed to withdraw its more than 1,000 forces from the West African nation over the next few months. It was not a move the U.S. had hoped to make, and officials tell CBS News it will be a severe blow to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in a region known to represent a number of major and growing threats.

Niger is a landlocked country surrounded by some unstable neighbors where local militias have joined forces with international terror organizations including al Qaeda and ISIS.

One senior U.S. military official who's spent time in Niger told CBS News the looming withdrawal was "a devastating blow, both for our regional counterterrorism efforts and to overall peace in the region going forward."

"Our soldiers have worked for years building the capacity and providing training to regional forces," the official said. "This is a tough blow on all levels...Following a military coup in July 2023, Niger's leaders made it clear in various discussions with U.S. officials that they were not interested in U.S. efforts to help guide the country on a path toward new democratic elections, and were instead turning to Russia for security services and to Iran for a possible deal on Niger's uranium reserves.
In March, the head of the U.S. military's Africa Command, Gen. Michael Langley, warned members of the U.S. Congress that "a number of countries are at the tipping point of being captured by the Russian Federation."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-withdrawal-niger-why-devastating-blow-but-likely-win-for-russia/

Posted by NoMoreBS 2024-05-09 13:34|| 2024-05-09 13:34|| Front Page Top

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