Careful redeployment. The United States has begun “as a precaution” to reposition its troops in Niger, the scene of a coup d’état at the end of July, the Pentagon announced Thursday. The Department of Defense “is repositioning part of its personnel and resources from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez”, further north, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
“There is no immediate threat to our personnel or violence on the ground,” said the spokesperson, who is simply applying a “precautionary” principle. The American army had already suspended joint exercises with the Nigerien army and American diplomacy had ordered the departure of its non-essential personnel from its embassy in Niamey in early August.
“No link” between the American transfer and “what the French army is doing”
Soldiers overthrew Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26 and placed him and his family under house arrest in the presidential palace. The United States has some 1,100 soldiers stationed in Niger, who operated against jihadist groups active in this region. France, for its part, has around 1,500 soldiers in Niger also engaged in the anti-jihadist fight and who find themselves in a very delicate situation, the military authors of the coup having denounced the defense agreements linking them to Paris and summoned the France to withdraw its soldiers.
Paris recognized that “exchanges” were taking place between the Nigerien and French armies on the withdrawal of “certain French military elements” in Niger. There is “no link” between the movement of American troops and “what the French army is doing at the moment”, however assured Sabrina Singh. Especially since the United States seems to be looking forward to the future and says it hopes “that diplomatic discussions will continue and that the situation in Niger will be resolved diplomatically,” she said.