- France initiates troop withdrawal from Niger after tensions with the military junta following the July coup, with a three-month withdrawal plan
- This decision follows President Macron’s announcement of withdrawing 1,400 French troops from the Sahel region by year-end
After falling out with the military junta in power since the late July coup, France says the first batch of its troops in Niger will begin withdrawing.
The withdrawal process is expected to take three months.
“We will begin our disengagement operation this week, in good order, safely, and in coordination with the Nigeriens,” the military command stated.
The announcement comes just a week after France’s ambassador to Niamey was forced to return home by the regime.
On September 24, President Emmanuel Macron announced the withdrawal of 1,400 French troops “by the end of the year.” Paris’ troops were in Niger as part of a larger fight against jihadists across the Sahel region.
According to RFI, 400 soldiers are stationed alongside local troops in the northwestern town of Ouallam, near Niger’s borders with Burkina Faso and Mali.
The “three borders” zone has been identified as a haven for the Islamic State group.
According to the military headquarters, soldiers withdrawing from the area would require cover to leave their exposed forward positions. This could include air support from the larger force at an airbase outside Niamey.
The troops have been in fear since the junta demanded their departure, with irregular food supplies and anti-French demonstrations outside the Niamey base.
France had increased its presence in Niger after another coup-born military regime in Mali demanded the withdrawal of its forces, adding armoured vehicles and helicopters to the drones and fighter jets already on the ground.
Its troops will now have to withdraw through Benin, which is at odds with the junta in Niamey, or Chad, home to France’s Sahel theatre headquarters.
For the time being, Niamey prohibits French flights over its territory.
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