Russian troops are occupying a US air base in Niger, a senior US defense official told Reuters. The Russians were invited to the base by Niger’s military government, which recently decided that about 1,000 American troops must leave Niger. At the same time, the Americans used the base for aerial monitoring of the troubled Sahel region and invested a lot of money in the base, reportedly over 100 million dollars.
Niger’s military government, which came to power in a coup last July, canceled an agreement in March that allowed nearly 1,000 US troops to stay in the West African country and called on the Americans to leave the country. At the same time, until last year’s military coup, Niger was a key partner of the United States in the fight against Islamist radicals, who killed thousands of people in the African Sahel region and drove millions of others from their homes.
A senior U.S. Defense Department official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Russian troops would not come into contact with U.S. troops, using a separate hangar at Air Force Base 101. The base is located near Hamani Diori International Airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey.
The deployment of Russian forces at the base brings American and Russian troops into close proximity at a time when diplomatic and military rivalry between the two countries is increasingly heated over the conflict in Ukraine, writes Reuters. It also raises questions about the fate of US military installations in Niger after US troops leave the country.
“(The situation) is not great, but it is manageable in the short term,” the official told Reuters.
Asked about the Reuters report, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin played down the possibility that U.S. troops could be in danger or that Russian troops could gain access to U.S. military equipment. “The Russians are in a separate compound and they don’t have access to American troops or our equipment,” Austin said. “I always have the safety and security of our soldiers in mind… But right now I don’t see any significant problem here in terms of protecting our forces,” he added.
Citing Pentagon sources, CNN reported that Russian military personnel have been staying at Base 101 for several weeks. A plane carrying Russian military instructors and army equipment, including equipment for the installation of an anti-aircraft defense system, landed in Niamey on April 10. A US official told Reuters that Niger authorities had told President Joe Biden’s administration that about 60 Russian troops would be stationed in Niger. However, he did not have the opportunity to verify this information.
The United States and its allies have been forced to withdraw from a number of African countries in recent years following coups in which groups seeking to distance themselves from Western governments came to power. In addition to the planned departure from Niger, American troops have also left neighboring Chad in recent days, while French troops have already been expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso.
Meanwhile, Russia is trying to strengthen relations with African countries and presents itself as a friendly country that is not burdened by the colonial past on the African continent. One of Russia’s closest African allies in recent years has been Mali, which has deployed mercenaries from the Wagner (in Russian transcription) group to fight against jihadist rebels.
Niger requested the withdrawal of US troops after a meeting in Niamey in mid-March, when senior US officials expressed concern over, among other things, the expected arrival of Russian forces, as well as reports that Iran was considering mining the country’s resources, including uranium. An American general was then sent to Niger to try to ensure a professional and responsible withdrawal of American forces. Although no binding decisions have yet been made on the future deployment of US troops currently operating in Niger, a Reuters source said plans were in the works to return them to the US Africa Command’s home bases in Germany.
