WASHINGTON, July 6, (AP): The US 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 US 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.
Niger's ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for the US because it is forcing troops to abandon the critical drone base that was used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate.
Ekman and other US military leaders have said other West African nations want to work with the US and may be open to an expanded American presence. He did not detail the locations, but other US officials have pointed to the Ivory Coast and Ghana as examples.
Ekman, who serves as the director for strategy at US Africa Command, is leading the US military withdrawal from the small base at the airport in Niger's capital of Niamey and from the larger counterterrorism base in the city of Agadez. He said there will be a ceremony Sunday marking the completed pullout from the airport base, then the final 100 troops and the last C-17 transport aircraft will depart.
Under the junta agreement, two-thirds of US troops and equipment must be out of the country by July 26, Ekman said. That deadline, which forced the Pentagon to move quickly, is a key reason why US Africa Command will complete its withdrawal of all 1,000 troops from Niger early.
But it also leaves a counterterrorism gap that US officials are struggling to fill as security threats from extremist groups in the Sahel grow.