Air Base 101, on the outskirts of Niger’s capital, Niamey, which has been housing US forces, is now also occupied by Russian troops, admitted the US Secretary of Defense, denying that this constitutes a problem. A decision that is a sign of Niger’s political reconfiguration since the coup d’état of July 2023 – which overthrew then-president Mohamed Bazoum – with the new Junta seeking rapprochement with Moscow, to the point of having asked for the departure of the North’s military. Americans, which Washington has already accepted.
This base is located next to Niamey international airport and, according to a senior US Department of Defense official interviewed by Reuters, the military from the United States and Russia do not mix, with the Russians using a separate hangar from the rest of the military stationed there. on site. “The situation is not great, but manageable in the short term,” the same source told Reuters. It is not known how many soldiers are stationed at Air Base 101 or what equipment the United States still has there, it is only known that around a thousand US soldiers are stationed in Niger.
The entry of the Russian military into Air Base 101 leaves troops from the United States and Russia in a peculiar neighborly situation at a time when the two countries are experiencing a time of great diplomatic and military tension due, in large part, to the war in Ukraine.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explained that “the Russians are in a separate complex, with no access to American forces or their equipment.” “I’m always focused on the safety and security of our troops, but at this time, I don’t see a significant issue here in terms of protecting our force,” added Lloyd Austin.
Niger’s military junta confirmed in April that talks are ongoing with the United States on the withdrawal of troops, with the aim of determining a timetable as quickly as possible. The Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Lamine Zeine, recently went to Washington to try to advance this dialogue, as the United States has already suspended most cooperation, including military cooperation, with Niger after the coup.
In March, Niger denounced the military cooperation agreement signed with the United States in 2012, claiming that it had been “unilaterally imposed” by Washington. The thousand US troops present in Niger are involved in the fight against Islamic extremism in the Sahel and have an important drone base in Agadez – following the coup d’état, the United States transferred some of its troops from Air Base 101 to Air Base 201, located precisely in Agadez, built by Washington, costing more than 100 million dollars (around 93 million euros).
Last month, Niger was the scene of several demonstrations demanding the departure of US troops from the country, the last of which took place in Agadez on the 24th, and organized by two dozen civil society associations that support the military regime that came to power through a coup d’état on July 26, 2023. According to AFP, the flags of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Russia were visible at the demonstration, as well as banners with sayings such as “We are in Agadez, not in Washington, the American army comes out.”
In addition to Niger, the United States and other allied countries have been forced to withdraw their troops from several African countries following several coups d’état that brought to power groups that want a break from the West. Only recently has Washington had to abandon Chad, while France has been forced to leave Burkina Faso and Mali.
The decision to withdraw US special forces from Chad comes in the context of the cutting of diplomatic and military relations between several Sahel countries, namely Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and the West, especially France, but also the United States, and the parallel strengthening of relations between the same countries and Russia. In January, Moscow announced that it had agreed “to intensify” military cooperation with Niger.
