Biden Forced To Pull U.S. Forces Out Of Key African Nation That’s Turning To Russia, Iran, China
President Joe Biden suffered humiliation on the global stage again this week as the U.S. is reportedly set to give up its bases in Niger and evacuate the thousand American troops deployed there.
The move upends U.S. counterterrorism efforts and security policy in the politically unstable Sahel region of Africa, which stretches across the northern central part of the continent and includes Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, and Eritrea.
The region is one of the most dangerous in the world and is a hotbed for multiple major Islamic terrorist groups, including ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and many more.
The New York Times reported that the Biden administration is pulling the troops out in the coming weeks after the country’s democratically elected government was overthrown by its own weak military.
The situation in Niger is part of a pattern in the region where countries are breaking ties with Western nations and are forming alliances with Russia, whose criminal paramilitary forces have been increasing their footprint in recent years, the report said.
Niger ordered US troops to leave after Biden officials warned about ties to Russia, Iran: Pentagon
Niger is pulling its military cooperation deal with the United States and ordering some 1,000 American military personnel to leave the country, a startling development that comes after U.…
thehill.com
The State Department, which did not officially declare the takeover a coup until October, cut back on U.S. aid in the country but still allowed humanitarian assistance. Washington also paused security operations in Niger, where U.S. forces largely help with counterterrorism efforts in the region against an Islamist insurgency.
But following a recent trend by countries in Africa’s western Sahel region, Niger has appeared to turn to Russia as a partner over Western nations.
“The American presence in the territory of the Republic of Niger is illegal,” Niger’s military spokesman Col. Amadou Abdramane said on national television, as reported by The New York Times. He also said the presence of American troops “violates all the constitutional and democratic rules, which would require the sovereign people — notably through its elected officials — to be consulted on the installation of a foreign army on its territory.”
The development is a major setback for U.S. efforts in the Sahel, where just six years ago it opened a $110 million base in northern Niger used to fly surveillance drones.
Niger’s declared ousting of U.S. troops also follows France’s withdrawal of its forces from the country last year.
