US completes full military withdrawal from Niger

This screenshot picture taken from video shows a US military cargo plane taxiing down a runway at the Agadez military base, as the US military completes its withdrawal closing its last base in Niger, on August 5, 2024 [STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images]

The US military yesterday announced that its troops have completed the full withdrawal from Niger, after the African country demanded that its troops depart.

The two countries “announce that the withdrawal of US forces and assets from Niger is complete,” Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement yesterday.

“The safe, orderly, and responsible withdrawal was completed without complications, by the mutually decided date of September 15, 2024,” AFRICOM said.

In April, the ruling authorities in Niger ordered the US to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, following a coup last year in the West African nation.

The US withdrawal was carried out in phases, with forces and assets withdrawing from Air Base 101 in Niamey on 7 July and Air Base 201 in Agadez on 5 August, according to a Reuters report.

The US said the US Africa Command Coordination Element, consisting of a two-star general and staff, also departed from Niger and that the withdrawal was complete by a 15 September deadline.

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