Pentagon says surveillance flights, not counterterrorism ops, have restarted in Niger

In this photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, speaks at the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 8, 2023. The U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nation’s new ruling junta. That word came Friday from the Air Force commander for Africa, Gen. James Hecker.

“We are just flying ISR in order to monitor for any threats,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing Thursday. “We are flying ISR for force protection purposes and that's it.” In a clarifying statement Thursday, the spokesman for air forces in Africa, Col. Robert Firman, said that in his Wednesday remarks, Hecker was just referring to the air component perspective and was not addressing the overall counterterrorism program in Niger.

“The last thing we want to have happen is, we don’t want a shooting war over there. And the good news is we’ve been vastly successful at doing so with the help of the State Department,” Hecker said. “The airspace is starting to slowly come back up. And we’re able to do some of our surveillance operations primarily for force protection in the area. So that’s helping us up quite a bit to make sure that we’re comfortable.

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