A US official says Russian and US troops don’t combine at Air Base 101 as Moscow’s forces have been deployed to a separate hangar.
Russian navy personnel have entered an air base in Niger internet hosting US troops, a senior US protection official informed Reuters information company, following the choice by Niger’s navy rulers to expel US forces from the nation.
Army officers at present ruling Niger informed Washington in March to withdraw the practically 1,000 U.S. navy personnel stationed of their nation.
Earlier than the navy coup in July final 12 months, Niger had been a key accomplice in the USA’ struggle towards the ISIL (ISIS) group and its Al Qaeda associates in Africa’s Sahel area, which is at present experiencing a surge in lethal violence.
A senior U.S. protection official, talking on situation of anonymity, stated Russian troops weren’t mixing with U.S. forces on the air base as they had been utilizing a separate plane hangar on the website often known as Air Base 101, situated subsequent to to the Diori Hamani Worldwide Airport within the capital of Niger. Niamey.
Nonetheless, the deployment of Russian navy personnel to the bottom places US and Moscow forces in shut proximity at a time when relations between the 2 international locations are more and more tense amid Washington’s help for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of His neighbor.
Russia’s transfer additionally raises questions concerning the destiny of US navy amenities in Niger following the completion of the US withdrawal.
“[The situation] “It isn’t an enormous deal however, within the brief time period, it is manageable,” the U.S. official informed Reuters.
The Nigerien and Russian embassies in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, Reuters studies.
The USA and its allies have been compelled to withdraw troops from a number of African international locations after coups that dropped at energy navy leaders desperate to distance themselves from Western governments.
Along with the approaching departure from Niger, US forces have additionally left Chad in current days, whereas the French military was expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso. On the similar time, Russia seeks to strengthen relations with African nations, presenting Moscow as a pleasant nation with out colonial baggage on the continent.
Mali, for instance, has turn into one in every of Russia’s closest African allies in recent times, with the Wagner Group mercenary drive deployed there to struggle insurgent teams.
The U.S. official stated Nigerien authorities had informed U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration that about 60 Russian navy personnel could be in Niger, however the official couldn’t confirm that that was the precise quantity at present within the nation.
After final 12 months’s coup, the US navy moved a few of its forces in Niger from Air Base 101 to Air Base 201 within the metropolis of Agadez. It was not instantly clear what U.S. navy tools remained at Air Base 101.
Washington constructed Air Base 201 in central Niger at a price of greater than $100 million. Since 2018, it has been used to assault ISIL and Al Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, often known as JNIM, with armed drones.
Niger’s name for the withdrawal of US troops got here after a gathering in Niamey in mid-March, when senior US officers raised issues, together with the anticipated arrival of Russian forces and studies that Iran was in search of uncooked supplies within the nation, together with uranium.
Whereas the U.S. message to Nigerien officers was not an ultimatum, the official stated, it was clear that U.S. forces couldn’t be on a base with Russian forces.
“They did not take it that nicely,” the official stated.
A two-star American basic has been despatched to Niger to attempt to arrange knowledgeable and accountable withdrawal.
Whereas no choices have been made about the way forward for US troops in Niger, the official stated the plan was for them to return to the US Africa Command bases, situated in Germany.
