Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder confirmed on Monday the two sides are “beginning” the discussions for the U.S. withdrawal, though he did not specify when the roughly 1,100 troops would depart.
Air Base 201 is in the city of Agadez, which is about 550 miles from the capital, Niamey, and the U.S. military has used it for aerial surveillance flights and counterterrorism operations. They’ve largely been unable to continue these missions since the junta rose to power. Niger is the latest in a string of African nations that have experienced military coups in recent years, many of which have led to a severing of ties with the United States. Most recently Gabon, Niger, and Sudan have experienced military uprisings, while other military leaders have seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Chad in recent years.
The driving force behind the coups, he said, “include endemic corruption, lagging development, weak democratic institutions, and a shortage in strategic patience,” which criminal and terrorist groups are then able to exploit to gain civilian support. But, the new leaders then find themselves distanced from Western support, and as problems worsen, they are forced to seek partnerships elsewhere, mainly Russia.
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