No final decision on withdrawing US troops from Niger and Chad, top official tells AP
BOSTON — No final decision has been made yet on whether or not all U.S. troops will leave Niger and Chad, two African countries that are integral to the military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations in the Sahel region. a top U.S. military official told the Associated Press on Wednesday. .
Niger’s ruling junta last month ended an agreement allowing US troops to operate in the West African country.
The government of neighboring Chad has also questioned its deal with the U.S. in recent days, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Christopher Grady, the country’s second-highest military officer, said in an interview.
The agreements allow the U.S. to conduct critical counterterrorism operations within the countries’ borders and have supported the training of military partners in both countries. The reversals have raised concerns that US influence in Africa is losing ground due to overtures from Russia and China.
“We are all trying to position ourselves as the partner of choice,” says Grady. “It is up to us to determine why we consider our collaboration with them important. We certainly want to be there. We want to help them, we want to empower them, we want to do things by, with and through (them).”
While U.S. officials said Saturday that the military would begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger, they said discussions about a new military deal were ongoing.
“Negotiations are still ongoing,” Grady said. “I don’t believe there has been a final decision on the deployment of U.S. troops there.”
Relations between Niger and Western countries have deteriorated since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French troops to leave and instead turned to Russia for security. Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to strengthen the country’s air defenses and with Russian equipment for Nigeriens to use.
Chad’s government also recently requested that U.S. troops leave, and officials from the State Department, U.S. Africa Command and the Pentagon will work with Chad’s government to advocate for U.S. troops to stay, Grady said .
“The team has to get in there and work through it,” Grady said.
He said that if both countries ultimately decide the U.S. cannot remain there, the military will have to look for alternatives to carry out counter-terrorism missions in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara.
“If we are asked to leave, and after negotiations that’s the way it plays out, then we’re going to have to recalculate and figure out a new way to do it,” Grady said.