According to a senior US defense official who spoke to Reuters, Russian military soldiers have invaded an air base in Niger that is housing US troops. This development comes after the junta in Niger decided to remove US servicemen.
The US has been ordered to remove its approximately 1,000 military soldiers from the West African nation by the military officials in charge. Until a coup last year, Washington’s main ally in the war against militants who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more was this country.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior US defense official said that Russian personnel were use a different hangar at Airbase 101, which is close to Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital city of Niamey, Niger, rather than interacting with US troops.
Russia’s military action, which was originally reported by Reuters, places US and Russian forces in close proximity during a time when the country’s military and diplomatic competition is growing more intense due to the situation in Ukraine.
It also begs the question of what would happen to US installations in the nation after a pullout.
The official stated, “(The situation) is not great but in the short term manageable.”
When questioned about the Reuters article, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin downplayed the possibility that Russian forces would approach US military assets or pose a threat to American troops.
Austin stated during a press conference in Honolulu, “The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to US forces or access to our equipment.”
“Our troops’ security and safety are my top priorities at all times. However, as of right moment, I don’t believe that our force protection is really compromised.”
Requests for response from the Nigerien and Russian embassies in Washington were not immediately answered.
Following coups that installed forces keen to break away from Western administrations, the US and its allies were compelled to withdraw their troops from many African nations.
Apart from the imminent withdrawal from Niger, US soldiers have just departed Chad, while French forces have been expelled from both Mali and Burkina Faso.
Simultaneously, Russia is attempting to reinforce its ties with African countries by portraying itself as a friendlier nation with no colonial past on the region.
For instance, Mali has emerged as one of Russia’s closest African friends in recent years, thanks to the deployment of the Wagner Group mercenary army there to combat Islamist terrorists.
Russia has referred to US-Russian ties as “below zero” due to US financial and military support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian soldiers on the move.
Although the US source was unable to confirm the number, Nigerien officials had informed President Joe Biden’s administration that around 60 Russian military soldiers would be present in Niger.
Following the coup, the US military in Niger relocated part of its personnel from Airbase 101 to Airbase 201 in Agadez. What American military hardware was still at Airbase 101 was not immediately apparent.
Airbase 201 in central Niger was constructed by the United States at a cost over $100 million. Armed drones have been deployed to attack militants for the Islamic State and al Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) since 2018.
Washington worries that Islamic extremists in the Sahel would be able to grow in numbers if US military and intelligence resources are not present.
Following a conference in mid-March in Niamey, when top US officials voiced worries about the impending deployment of Russian soldiers and indications that Iran was looking for raw resources in the nation, including uranium, Niger decided to request the withdrawal of US troops.
The person clarified that the US communication to Nigerien authorities did not constitute an ultimatum, but rather that US soldiers were not permitted to share a facility with Russian forces.
The official stated, “They did not take that well.”
The US has dispatched a two-star general to Niger in an attempt to coordinate a prudent and professional pullout.
The official stated that the intention was for US forces to return to US Africa Command’s home bases in Germany, even though no decisions had been made on their stay in Niger.
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