(CNN) –– The US military completed its withdrawal from Niger on Sunday, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced in a statement.
“This process began on May 19 following the mutual establishment of withdrawal conditions and continued with the withdrawal of US forces and assets from Air Base 101 in Niamey on July 7, 2024 and from Air Base 201 in Agadez on August 5, 2024,” the statement said. AFRICOM Press ReleaseThe United States had previously said the withdrawal would be completed by September 15.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that the personnel remaining in the country are “only the standard embassy presence.” AFRICOM said in its statement that “the U.S. Africa Command Coordination Element, consisting of a two-star general officer and his staff,” has also departed Niger.
The withdrawal comes months after Niger’s military government, which seized power in a coup in 2023, ended an agreement signed with the United States that allowed military and civilian personnel from the Department of Defense to operate in Niger. About 1,000 American troops had been in the country as part of the U.S. counterterrorism mission. Four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed in Niger in 2017 after being ambushed by about 50 fighters. A Niger military spokesman said in March that the agreement “is not only deeply unjust in its content, but also fails to meet the aspirations and interests of the Nigerien people.”
The announcement came just days after a US delegation visited Niger in March. Military spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane had said at the time that the US had a “condescending attitude.”
CNN previously reported that at the meeting, the US delegation — which included Gen. Michael Langley, commander of US Africa Command, and Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs — expressed concern about Niger’s growing relationship with Russia.
“The Nigerien government regrets the American delegation’s willingness to deny the Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and the types of partnerships that can truly help fight terrorists,” Abdramane said at the time.
Singh had also said at the time that the US had expressed concerns about Niger’s relationship with Russia “in a direct and frank manner.”
Langley had previously warned in congressional testimony that Russia was seeking to expand its influence in Africa, warning lawmakers that the United States was being “smothered” by Russian disinformation on the continent.
“Several countries are on the verge of being effectively captured by the Russian Federation,” he told Congress in March.
Those concerns only grew when, weeks after Niger announced the end of its military agreement with the United States, Russian forces were found operating from the same military base as U.S. troops in the country.
Chris Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, previously told CNN that the US “may be in a situation where we are increasingly on the outside looking in” when it comes to Africa.
Although the United States had attempted to find a way to maintain some level of presence in the country, those hopes were ultimately dashed, leading to the final withdrawal this week.
“Over the past decade, U.S. troops have trained Nigerien forces and supported partner-led counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the region (…) The U.S. Department of Defense and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense recognize the sacrifices made by the forces of both nations,” AFRICOM said Monday.
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