A delegation of U.S. officials arrived in the Nigerien capital of Niamey on Thursday to discuss the withdrawal of some 1,000 troops from the country, bringing an end to the largest U.S. military presence in a region that has come to be regarded as the global epicenter of Islamist violence.
The withdrawal at the request of the country’s ruling military junta, which seized power in a coup last July, comes despite significant diplomatic efforts by Biden administration officials to maintain the two U.S. bases in the country and to nudge Niger back toward civilian rule during a series of contentious meetings in Washington and Niamey.
The drawdown follows the withdrawal of French troops from the country late last year, as a rash of military coups across the Sahel have upended Western counterterrorism efforts and opened the door for the deployment of Russian mercenaries.
Read the rest of the story at FP, here.
