US departure from Niger ‘already underway’ ahead of September deadline

After a chaotic, months-long saga, the U.S. has begun withdrawing its forces from Niger.

The two countries announced their decision in a joint statement on Sunday , after almost a week of military talks. The deadline is September 15.

America has relied on the West African country as a counter-terrorism hub for more than a decade. Until recently, more than 1,000 U.S. personnel have operated there, most working from an airbase near Agadez, which cost more than $100 million and sits in the country’s center.

“This is not a good outcome,” said a senior defense official, briefing reporters Sunday on the condition of anonymity. “We’re leaving Niger after a significant investment and a lot of time invested in the partnership.”

Those ties began to fray last summer after a coup swapped the ruling government with a military junta known as the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland, or CNSP. The U.S. didn’t label the revolt a coup — a legal title that limits how much support America can offer — until October 2023. By then, the new government had already asked French forces also stationed in the country to depart.

This March, shortly after an earlier round of talks, a spokesman for the CNSP announced that America’s military could no longer keep operating there. The video surprised U.S. officials, who also weren’t at first sure whether it was official Nigerien policy or bluster.

But in the months that followed the decision became clear: the U.S. would be leaving; it only needed to negotiate how.

Developing a plan to do so was the purpose of the talks this month, led by the two militaries.

Niger agreed to protect American forces while they withdrew and help hasten some of the logistics.

The U.S., meanwhile, will remove all military personnel from the country. About 100, non-essential personnel have already left, said a senior military official who also joined the briefing.

“It is already underway,” said the defense official.

With them will come stores of equipment to be largely spread around other sites belonging to U.S. Africa Command. America will remove all sensitive and lethal kit, the officials said, but will leave anything that’s fixed — such as a barracks or hangar — or that costs more to move than it’s worth. The departure is mainly taking place over the air, rather than on the ground, making everything more expensive to transport.

The two officials doubted that, for now, any of the remaining equipment would end up in a foreign government’s hands. This month, the Pentagon confirmed reports that Russian soldiers were stationed near U.S. forces near the capital, which added to concern that Moscow was replacing Washington in the country.

”There’s definitely an interest right now in the [Nigerien] military to not upset things,” the U.S. military official said. “I don’t think in the short term we’ll see them turn this equipment over to others.”

Instead, the official expected the Nigeriens to use it for their own counter-terrorism fight, which has grown more acute in recent years as violent extremism rises in the region. America’s presence in the country was focused on that mission, conducting operations itself an training the Nigerien military to do so as well.

And while U.S. operations have paused in recent months, the military official said, the Nigerien forces it trained have continued their own counter-terrorism work.

As it withdraws, America will also turn to the future of its relationship with the country. The two officials briefing reporters colored it in warm hues, saying their military ties — aside from some in Niger’s military who are leading the government — are still strong.

“There’s a generation of the Nigerien military ... that have grown up with U.S. training, U.S. equipment, U.S. education,” the defense official said. “That’s something that we would expect that they will continue to desire.”

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will likely travel to Niger in the coming months to discuss the two countries’ future.

“They thought it was important to emphasize that they did not see this as the closing of the relationship,” the military official said.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media

经过数月混乱的局势发展，美国已开始从尼日尔撤军。

经过近一周的军事会谈，两国于周日发表联合声明宣布了这一决定。最后期限为9月15日。

十多年来，美国一直依赖这个西非国家作为反恐中心。直到最近，仍有超过1000名美军人员在那里活动，其中大部分在阿加德兹附近的一个空军基地工作，该基地耗资超过1亿美元，位于该国中心地带。

一位不愿透露姓名的高级国防官员周日向记者表示：“这不是一个好结果。我们在尼日尔投入了大量资金和时间建立伙伴关系后，却不得不离开那里。”

去年夏天，一场政变推翻了执政政府，取而代之的是一个名为“保卫国土国家委员会”（CNSP）的军政府，此后两国关系开始恶化。直到2023年10月，美国才将这场政变定性为政变——这一法律术语限制了美国能够提供的支持力度。而在此之前，新政府已经要求驻扎在该国的法国军队撤离。

今年三月，在上一轮会谈结束后不久，尼日尔全国和平委员会（CNSP）的一位发言人宣布，美军无法继续在尼日尔开展军事行动。这段视频令美国官员感到意外，他们起初也不确定这究竟是尼日尔的官方政策还是虚张声势。

但在接下来的几个月里，这个决定变得明朗起来：美国将要离开；它只需要就如何离开进行谈判。

本月由两国军队主导的会谈旨在制定实现这一目标的计划。

尼日尔同意在美军撤离期间提供保护，并帮助加快一些后勤保障工作。

与此同时，美国将从该国撤出所有军事人员。一位也参加了简报会的高级军官表示，约有100名非必要人员已经离开。

“这项工作已经在进行中，”这位国防官员说。

随之而来的还有大量装备，这些装备将被分散安置在美国非洲司令部的其他基地。官员们表示，美方将撤走所有敏感和致命装备，但会保留所有固定设施，例如营房或机库，以及搬迁成本超过其价值的物品。此次撤离主要通过空中运输，而非地面运输，这使得所有物资的运输成本都更高。

这两位官员怀疑，就目前而言，剩余的装备不太可能落入外国政府手中。本月，五角大楼证实了有关俄罗斯士兵驻扎在首都附近美军基地的报道，这加剧了人们对莫斯科正在取代华盛顿在该国影响力的担忧。

这位美国军方官员表示：“目前（尼日尔）军方显然不想惹麻烦。我认为短期内他们不会把这些装备移交给其他人。”

相反，这位官员希望尼日尔人能将这艘船用于他们自己的反恐斗争。近年来，随着该地区暴力极端主义的抬头，反恐形势变得愈发严峻。美国在尼日尔的存在也主要围绕这一任务展开，不仅亲自开展行动，还训练尼日尔军队执行相关任务。

这位军方官员表示，虽然美国近几个月来暂停了军事行动，但其训练的尼日尔部队仍在继续开展反恐工作。

随着美军撤离，美国也将开始思考与尼日尔的未来关系。两位向记者通报情况的官员语气乐观，称除了尼日尔军方一些领导人之外，两国的军事联系依然牢固。

这位国防官员说：“尼日尔军人中有一代人……他们接受的是美式训练、美式装备和美式教育。我们预计他们会继续渴望这些。”

美国副国务卿库尔特·坎贝尔很可能在未来几个月访问尼日尔，讨论两国未来发展。

这位军方官员说：“他们认为有必要强调，他们并不认为这是双方关系的终结。”

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。

乔纳森是《军事时报》旗下《早鸟简报》的撰稿人和编辑。您可以在推特上关注他：@lehrfeld_media