Russian forces are operating at same base as US troops in Niger - CNN

World Press 3 May, 2024 11:20

Russian and US troops have been operating out of the same military base in Niger for at least several weeks, a US defense official and another source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The Russians have been using a separate hangar on the base, known as Air Base 101, the sources said, and are not operating in the same space as the Americans. But “it is not that big of an area,” one of the sources told CNN.

The Russian presence at the base has been a major point of contention between the US and Niger’s military junta, which seized power in a July 2023 coup. The country’s ruling junta has made clear it wants US forces to leave. According to CNN, this further underscores US officials’ concerns that Niger, which has served as a crucial foothold for US counterterrorism operations in the region for nearly a decade, is turning toward Russia.

In March, US diplomatic and military officials including Gen. Michael Langley, commander of US Africa Command, and Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, visited Niger and expressed concern about the escalating Russian military presence in the country. They also raised questions about the future of Air Base 101 and whether it would be ceded to the Russians, CNN previously reported.

The meeting was tense, officials said at the time, and just a few days later Niger announced that it was ending the accord that has allowed US military personnel and civilian staff to operate in the country since 2014.

The US military is now working with Nigerien officials to carry out an orderly withdrawal of troops from the country, the Pentagon has confirmed.