SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US says will complete troop pull-out from Niger early August
Abidjan, July 24 (AFP) Jul 24, 2024
The US troop withdrawal from Niger, as demanded by the West African country's military regime, will be completed in early August, a US general said Wednesday.

"The withdrawal is going well," General Kenneth Ekman, US commander for Africa, told reporters in Abidjan.

"It is ahead of schedule and this is because of the excellent coordination that we have had with our Nigerien military counterparts," said Ekman, who heads up the US Africa Command Africom.

"I expect that we will be complete with the withdrawal by early August, well ahead of the 15 September mutually agreed deadline,"

The United States pulled out of a base in the Niger capital Niamey in early July, but another 200 US soldiers remain at the Agadez drone base in the north of the country.

US troops were part of an international effort to suppress jihadists forces that regularly strike across the region.

But the Niger military leaders who seized power in a coup a year ago in March told US and French forces to quit the country.

"The consequences for regional security are very concerning," Ekman said.

"I've been here speaking to your military and government leaders -- we share the same concerns about the violent extremist threat that is growing and increasingly threatening the countries around the Sahel."

He said the United States would continue to work with Ivory Coast security forces, but he denied media reports that the US military was looking to build a base in Odienne, in the north of the country.

US forces recently took part in the "Flintlock" military exercises in Ivory Coast that involved hundreds of soldiers from Western and African countries.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
US, India launch powerful Earth-monitoring satellite
Defense Department opts to not end satellite data for storm forecasts
Boeing X37B Spaceplane Prepares for Eighth Orbital Test Mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Bridges gain new voice through real time GNSS monitoring of structural behavior
Famous double-slit experiment holds up when stripped to its quantum essentials
Planet expands Pelican satellite fleet with launch of two new spacecraft

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Navy F-35 jet crashes in California
Slingshot unveils TALOS AI to simulate and support strategic space operations
Designing compact drones to safely navigate air ducts

24/7 News Coverage
Airbus CO3D satellites begin mission to generate high precision global 3D map
NASA teams with India to launch Earth-tracking satellite
Beijing officials admit 'gaps' in readiness after rain kill dozens



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.