U.S. Weighing Options In Africa After Niger Junta Orders Departure From Key Counterterrorism Base

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is working with Niger officers to discover a means for U.S. troops to remain within the nation — a key base for counterterrorism operations in sub-Saharan Africa — following a weekend directive that they go away.

Last week a excessive level-delegation of U.S. officers, together with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander and the top of U.S. Africa Command Gen. Michael Langley, traveled to Niger to satisfy with members of the army junta.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh stated Monday the U.S. officers had “lengthy and direct” discussions with the junta officers that have been additionally partly spurred by issues over Niger’s potential relationships with Russia and Iran.

“We were troubled on the path that Niger is on,” Singh stated.

On Saturday, following the assembly, the junta’s spokesperson, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, stated U.S. flights over Niger’s territory in latest weeks have been unlawful. Meanwhile, Insa Garba Saidou, a neighborhood activist who assists Niger’s army rulers with their communications, criticized U.S. efforts to power the junta to select between strategic companions.

“The American bases and civilian personnel cannot stay on Nigerien soil any longer,” he advised The Associated Press.

Singh stated the U.S. was conscious of the March 16 assertion “announcing the end of the status of forces agreement between Niger and the United States. We are working through diplomatic channels to seek clarification. These are ongoing discussions and we don’t have more to share at this time.”

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel stated the discussions have been prompted by Niger’s “trajectory.”

“We are in touch with transition authorities to seek clarification of their comments and discuss additional next steps,” Patel stated.

The junta has largely been in management in Niger since July when mutinous troopers ousted the nation’s democratically elected president and months later requested French forces to depart.

The U.S. army nonetheless had some 650 troops working in Niger in December, largely consolidated at a base farther away from Niamey, Niger’s capital. Singh stated the overall variety of personnel nonetheless in nation, together with civilians and contractors, is roughly 1,000.

The Niger base is essential for U.S. counterterrorism operations within the Sahel and has been used for each manned and unmanned surveillance operations, though Singh stated the one drone flights being at present carried out are for power safety.

In the Sahel the U.S. has additionally supported native floor troops, together with accompanying them on missions. However, such accompanied missions have been scaled again since U.S. troops have been killed in a joint operation in Niger in 2017.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)