Niger Breaks Off Military Agreement With US

Niger’s government yesterday said that it had revoked a military agreement with the US that allowed US military personnel and civilian staff to operate out of its territory.

There are about 1,100 US troops in Niger and these troops operate out of two bases in the country.

The military junta’s announcement came following a visit by US officials this week which was led by assistant secretary of state for African affairs Molly Phee and included Gen Michael Langley, commander of the US Africa command.

“Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism,” the government spokesperson Amadou Abdramane said as quoted by Reuters.

Since seizing power in July 2023, the Niger junta, like military rulers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, have kicked out French and other European forces, and turned to Russia for support.

Stopping short of saying US forces should leave the country, the Niger government alleged that their presence in the country was illegal and violated constitutional and democratic rules.

The Niger government has said that they were not aware of the number of US civilian and military personnel on its soil or the amount of equipment deployed and, according to the agreement, the US military had no obligation to respond to any request for help against militants.

The US defence department has not commented on the decision.

The US has invested years and hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military. Part of these troops were involved in overthrowing Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum in 2023.

In October, the US designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered US laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger. A month later, Washington said that it was willing to talk to the new government if it met certain conditions.