The Department of Defense “is repositioning part of its personnel and resources from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez” further north, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
The United States has begun to reposition its troops in Niger, the scene of a coup d’etat at the end of July, the Pentagon announced Thursday. “There is no immediate threat to our staff or violence on the ground,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters, calling the move a “precautionary measure.”
A “small group” will remain on the Niamey base after the transfer, which is in progress, she further clarified.
Sabrina Singh also indicated that “some non-essential staff and contractors” had left the country several weeks ago. The American army had already suspended joint exercises with the Nigerien army and American diplomacy had ordered the departure of its non-essential personnel from its embassy in Niamey in early August.
More than 1000 soldiers stationed in Niger
Soldiers overthrew Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and placed him and his family under house arrest at the presidential palace.
The United States has some 1,100 soldiers stationed in Niger, who were operating against jihadist groups active in this region.
France, for its part, has around 1,500 soldiers in Niger who are also engaged in the anti-jihadist fight and who find themselves in a very delicate situation, the soldiers who carried out the coup d’etat having denounced the defense agreements binding them to Paris and summoned the France to withdraw its soldiers.
Paris recognized that “exchanges” were taking place between the Nigerien and French armies on the withdrawal of “certain French military elements” in Niger. There is “no link” between the movement of American troops and “what the French army is doing at the moment”, however assured Sabrina Singh.
Especially since the United States seems to spare the future and says it hopes “that the diplomatic discussions will continue and that the situation in Niger will be resolved diplomatically”, she said.
Source: BFM TV
