The U.S. finished its withdrawal from its last military base in Niger recently, and bad actors are already filling the vacuum. The consequences will extend far beyond Africa’s troubled Sahel region.
The Pentagon said Monday, Aug. 5, it had completed pulling out troops and equipment from Air Base 201 in the central Nigerien city of Agadez. Before last summer’s coup in Niger, the U.S. maintained about a thousand American troops in the country as a base against the growing jihadist presence in Africa. But in March the ruling junta canceled the status of forces agreement that protected U.S. soldiers from legal risks in Niger, and two months later the U.S. agreed to a full withdrawal by mid-September.
The U.S. had invested some $110 million in Air Base 201. The Sahel has become a global center of terrorism, and the U.S. drone base conducted intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance missions. Niger’s ruling junta has also expelled some 1,500 French troops.
The U.S. withdrawal is also creating opportunities for Iran. Senior Nigerien officials have led repeated delegations to Tehran in the past year. The U.S. has raised concerns about Iran gaining access to Niger’s abundant uranium reserves. Several recent reports in the French press have suggested Iran may seek 300 tons of refined uranium in exchange for missiles and drones.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has praised “the growth of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation” with Niger. The Kremlin has been working to expand its influence across Africa and has close ties to neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali. Russian state-owned media reported that military equipment and instructors arrived in Niger in April, and in May incoming Russian personnel and departing American troops overlapped at a Niamey air base.
The U.S. can’t stay where it isn’t wanted, and perhaps the Biden Administration couldn’t do much to stop the Niger government’s anti-Western moves. But the withdrawal is one more sign of America’s weakening global influence.
The Wall Street Journal
