Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger where American troops are stationed, raising the stakes in an already tense situation after Niger’s military rulers ordered the withdrawal of nearly 1,000 U.S. soldiers from the West African country.
“Russian forces were not mingling with U.S. troops but were using a separate hangar at Air Base 101, which is next to Diori Hamani international airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital,” a senior United States defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
The official acknowledged the situation puts Russian and American troops in unusually close proximity, calling it “not great but in the short term manageable.” It comes as military and diplomatic tensions have escalated between Washington and Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Niger had been a key partner for the United States in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel region who “have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more,” according to Reuters. But last year’s coup installed a new junta leadership that told the U.S. to remove its military presence.
The coup was part of an anti-Western backlash that has also forced American troops to recently withdraw from Chad. Likewise, French forces have been expelled from the former colonies of Mali and Burkina Faso following coups in those nations.
“About 60 Russian military personnel would be in Niger,” the Nigerien authorities informed the Biden administration, the U.S. official said, though the precise number could not be independently verified.
Russia has sought to deepen its influence across Africa in recent years, portraying itself as a partner free of colonial baggage, in contrast to Western powers like France and the United States. In Mali, “one of Russia’s closest African allies,” the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group has deployed forces “to fight jihadist insurgents,” according to Reuters.
After last year’s coup in Niger, the U.S. relocated some troops and air assets from the Russian-occupied Air Base 101 to the $100 million Air Base 201 in the city of Agadez. Base 201 has been used since 2018 “to target Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen fighters with armed drones,” Reuters reported.
The decision by Niger’s junta to expel U.S. forces followed a March meeting in Niamey where senior American officials raised concerns about the “expected arrival of Russia forces and reports of Iran seeking raw materials in the country, including uranium,” the U.S. official told Reuters. “They did not take that well,” the official said.
In response, the U.S. has dispatched a two-star general to Niger to oversee what the official said should be a “professional and responsible withdrawal.” The plan, at least initially, is for U.S. troops to “return to US Africa Command’s home bases in Germany.” However, the official said no final decisions have been made on the long-term future of the American military mission in Niger.