The US military is leaving its air base in Niger + video

According to the Africanews news channel, the US Army is evacuating Air Base 101 in Niamey, the capital of this country.

A US general announced on Friday that the US military will completely withdraw from Base 101 in Niger by the end of Sunday (July 14). In the coming weeks, an important drone base will be dismantled.

In April, Niger’s military leader ordered the United States to withdraw its troops from the country. About 1,000 troops will be affected by the withdrawal, an embarrassing blow for Washington after last year’s coup in the western country. It is considered Africa.

Before the coup, Niger was a key US partner in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. This region has witnessed thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people. As U.S. intelligence on expanding extremist groups becomes more limited, Washington is looking for an alternative program in West Africa.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Niger, Ali El Amin Zain, explained his country’s decision to expel American soldiers, saying, “The Americans stayed in our land and did nothing while the terrorists were killing people and setting the cities on fire. It is not a sign of friendship for them to come to our soil, but allow terrorists to attack us.”

Last month, the United States and Niger reached an agreement for the withdrawal of American troops from this country and gave the army 4 months to withdraw about 1,000 American soldiers and military equipment from this West African country. The deadline for the withdrawal of troops agreed by the two countries is September 15. An informed source said: The priority of the United States was first to remove sensitive equipment from Niger.

Niger was one of the African countries from where the United States has monitored extremist groups in the African region. The United States also trained forces in Niger. American officials said that American personnel who left the country on commercial flights before the agreement.