Washington , Apr 20:
The United States will withdraw 1,000 US military personnel from the West African country in the coming months, the New York Times reported.
The report said on Friday that the US government had notified the transitional government in Niger about its plan.
According to the Washington Post, State Department Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell met with Niger’s prime minister earlier in the day and accepted the government’s demand.
The report noted that this move will transform the United States’ counterterrorism posture in West Africa.
Last month, a spokesperson for the Nigerien military said that the country’s transitional government, which took power in a coup last July, ended the military agreement with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.
Niger’s Interior Ministry recently said the United States had promised to submit a plan for the “disengagement” of troops from the West African country after Niamey ended its military pact with Washington. The statement was published on social media after Nigerien Interior Minister Mohamed Toumba hosted US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon for talks earlier in the day.
