WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will remove all its forces and equipment from a small base in Niger this weekend and fewer than 500 remaining troops will leave a critical drone base in the West African country in August, ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline set in an agreement with the new ruling junta, the American commander there said Friday.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman said in an interview that a number of small teams of 10-20 U.S. troops, including special operations forces, have moved to other countries in West Africa. But the bulk of the forces will go to Europe, at least initially.
Ekman and other U.S. military leaders have said other West African nations want to work with the U.S. and may be open to an expanded American presence. He did not detail the locations, but other U.S. officials have pointed to the Ivory Coast and Ghana as examples.
In a way the retreat of European and US troops across the Sahel region are “falling dominos”. Just today we had news that German troops are being pulled out of Niger
And Chad could be the next domino to fall. They’ve had a lot of anti-French protests, they expelled the German ambassador, and the US is probably going to be forced to pull its troops out of there soon as well. Meanwhile they are building closer relations with Russia. I am hopeful that things are moving in the right direction.
I’m hopeful as well. I’m just worried for the people of Niger and the possibility of them being bombed to oblivion.