The military regime in power following a coup in July 2023, denounced the military cooperation agreement signed in 2012 with the United States. He believes that it was “unilaterally imposed” by Washington.
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Niger is now turning towards Russia. The United States agreed on Friday April 19 to withdraw its soldiers from the Sahel country, at the request of the Niamey regime. The timetable for the withdrawal was not specified. On April 13, thousands of people demonstrated in the Nigerien capital to demand the immediate departure of American troops, notably at the initiative of associations supporting the regime.
After the coup d’état which overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023, the new military regime denounced the military cooperation agreement signed in 2012 with the United States, believing that it had been “unilaterally imposed” by Washington and that the American presence was now “illegal”. More than 1,000 American soldiers are present in the country, engaged in the anti-jihadist fight in the Sahel. They have a large drone base in Agadez (North), built for around $100 million.
Russian instructors in Niamey
At the end of March, the head of the military regime in Niger, General Abdourahamane Tiani, spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the “reinforcement” of their security cooperation, “to face current threats”, according to an official Nigerien press release. On Wednesday April 10, Russian instructors arrived in Niamey, while the country’s authorities received their first delivery of Russian military equipment. The Russian Federation will “to endow” Niger and “install an anti-aircraft defense system” able “to ensure total control of our airspace”said Nigerian television.
Two days later, on Friday, Africa Corps – seen as the successor to the Wagner paramilitary company in Africa – confirmed its arrival in the country.
Niger, like neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, has been facing recurring and deadly jihadist violence for years, perpetrated by jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group. In these three countries, civilian governments have been overthrown by successive military coups since 2020.