DAKAR, Senegal — The withdrawal of US troops from Niger is complete, a US official said Monday.
A small number of troops assigned to guard the U.S. embassy remain in place, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Earlier this year, Niger’s ruling junta an agreement terminated that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials from both countries said in a joint statement that US troops would complete their withdrawal by mid-September.
The US handed over the last military bases in Niger to local authorities last month, but about two dozen American troops remained in Niger, mainly for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, Singh said.
Niger expels US troops after a coup last year has major implications for Washington, as it forces troops to abandon key bases used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel. Groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are active in the vast region south of the Sahara.
One of those groups, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, better known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and wants to expand into Benin and Togo.
Niger was seen as one of the last countries in the troubled region with which Western nations could work to stop growing jihadist insurgencies. The US and France until recently had more than 2,500 troops in the region and, along with other European countries, had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training.
In recent months, Niger has been pulling away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to bolster the country’s air defenses.
