Niger residents protest in Niamey against US military presence in 2024 April 13 Photo by Boureima Hama (AFP/Scanpix).
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian troops were stationed at an air base in Niger, where American troops are also stationed, after the country’s military junta decided to expel US forces.
The junta that took power in Niger last July announced in March that it was terminating a military cooperation agreement with Washington, which agreed to withdraw its troops and sent a delegation to Niamey to negotiate an orderly withdrawal.
Until the coup of 2023, Niger was considered the last reliable partner of the US in the fight against jihadists in West Africa in the region. It housed 100 million USD (94 million EUR) American drone base and approximately 1,000 US soldiers.
Russia’s deployment of troops to the 101st Air Force Base puts Russian and American troops in Niamey in close proximity at a time when Washington is at loggerheads with Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
L. Austin said at a press conference on Thursday that the Russian deployment does not pose “a big problem (…) in terms of protecting our forces.”
“The 101st Air Base, where our forces are based, is a Niger Air Force base located in the same area of the capital as the international airport. The Russians are in a separate compound and have no access to US troops or our equipment,” he explained at a press conference in Hawaii.
During a press conference in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied reports about the deployment of Russian troops at the Niger base, only saying that Moscow seeks to strengthen ties with African countries in all areas, including defense.
Following the ouster of elected president Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s junta ordered the withdrawal of troops from former colonial ruler France.
Last month, Russian military instructors arrived in Niger with an air defense system and other equipment, Niger’s state media reported. This followed talks between Niger’s military head of government, General Abdourahamane Tiani, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A U.S. withdrawal would mark a new regional win for Russia, which is increasingly focusing on Africa and backing military regimes in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
Niger has been rocked by violence between the jihadist group Boko Haram and fighters from the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the southeastern Difa region, bordering Nigeria.
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