Harare — The U.S. Senate decisively rejected a bill on Thursday, October 26, 2023, that would have forced President Joe Biden to withdraw American troops from Niger, a West African country where the military seized power in July.
Earlier in October, the U.S. formally recognized the military coup in Niger, leading to the official suspension of aid. However, according to U.S. officials, there were no plans to reduce the number of American troops stationed in the nation. Niger has been a U.S. partner in the fight against militants in Africa, where hundreds have been killed and millions displaced. The Department of Defense employs over 1,000 people nationwide.
The legislation’s Republican Senator Rand Paul contended that the troops had been wrongfully deployed without congressional authorization and that Americans shouldn’t be put in danger of being caught in the crossfire of a battle in Niger. However, the Democratic head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Cardin, warned that if Americans leave, Russia or its partner Wagner mercenaries would step in and fill the void.
In September 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Mali’s acting President, Assimi Goita, on issues that included counter-terrorism measures and the situation in Niger Republic, Mali’s neighbour. The two leaders agreed that diplomatic tactics are the best way to end the crisis in Niger, where Mohammed Bazoum was overthrown in July 2023.
In the last ten years, American forces have run two military camps in Niger, one of which is used to launch drone attacks on the Islamic State and an Al Qaeda offshoot in the area, and trained Nigerien forces in counterterrorism.
The European Union Council enacted a legislative framework that permits it to “sanction individuals and entities responsible for actions that threaten the peace, stability, and security of Niger.” Anyone in Niger who “undermines the constitutional order, or constitutes serious violations to human rights or international humanitarian law” will be targeted by the new framework.
Meanwhile, France is to end its military cooperation with Niger and pull its 1,500 troops out of the African country by the end of the year after a military coup there, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The move deals a blow to France’s counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel and France’s influence in the region.
At the Peace and Security Forum in Lomé, the representative of the junta in power in Niamey General Mohamed Boubacar Toumba told his neighbours that Niger wants to reopen dialogue with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Niger, a Sahel state now led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, is at odds with the Economic Community of West African States, which previously threatened military intervention to reinstate Bazoum as president.