The withdrawal of 1,500 French soldiers based in Niger was finally announced on the evening of Sunday September 24. It comes after those of Mali and Burkina Faso, where France has already been pushed out by hostile juntas. An operation which this time may prove more complicated.
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At the end of a two-month standoff with the Nigerien military regime, President Emmanuel Macron ended up announcing on Sunday September 24 the return to Paris of the ambassador currently in Niamey and the withdrawal of French troops from Niger “by the end of the year”. This is a delicate operation, because Paris had made Niger its fallback base after having had to leave Mali, in August 2022, and Burkina Faso, in February 2023. This further complicates the French presence in the region.
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Since the putsch on July 26, the French general staff has had time to imagine strategies for its soldiers operating on the Niamey base, and from the advanced posts in the northwest at Ouallam and Ayolou. France had already suspended its military cooperation and was working on a redistribution of its forces in the region. Concretely, the options are few.
For the 1,500 French soldiers stationed in Niamey, including Mirage 2000 plane pilots, oWe can imagine that some of the troops will return to France. But oThere is also talk of redeploying some of the soldiers to Benin which has a border with Niger, as well as distribute forces between the different French bases present in the region: in Ivory Coast (currently 900 people), Senegal (400), Chad (1,000) and Gabon (400). France also has a base in Djibouti (1,500), facing the Indian Ocean.
The withdrawal from Niger will represent a logistical challenge for the French armies if it has to be done in three months. All this will also be negotiated with the junta, with a symbolic deadline: the end of the year.