The French army bows out in Niger. At the request of the junta in power since the coup in July, the last soldiers wearing the colors of the tricolor left the country on Friday. “Today (…) marks the end of the process of disengagement of French forces in the Sahel,” declared a lieutenant in the Nigerien army, Salim Ibrahim, during a ceremony in Niamey. The ceremony took place in the capital’s air base, housing a planned air base (BAP) where some of the 1,500 French soldiers and airmen present in Niger were stationed.
The ceremony concluded with the “signing” of a “joint document” by the chief of staff of the Niger army, Colonel Mamane Sani Kiaou and the commander of the French forces in the Sahel, General Eric Ozanne, said Lieutenant Salim Ibrahim. The signing of the text was done “in the presence of Togo and the United States”, respectively “represented by the chief of general staff of the armies” and “the military defense attaché”, he said. added. The BAP was handed over to Niger.
145 flights carried out
Lieutenant Ibrahim specified that during the disengagement process of the French military, “145 flights” were carried out, “15 land convoys” took place and “around 1,500 soldiers were disengaged”. “We are pleased with the smooth progress” of the disengagement, because “no major incident has been recorded,” he said.
The withdrawal of French troops, which began in early October, puts an end to ten years of French anti-jihadist struggle in the Sahel, where Niger was one of Paris’s last allies before the July coup.