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Pentagon chief Austin says US will withdraw troops from Niger
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[Regnum] The United States of America will have to withdraw all its troops from Niger, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on May 8 at a hearing in the Appropriations Committee of the US Senate. “You mentioned that we are forced to leave Niger. We will leave Niger,” he said. As Regnum reported, in March the Niger authorities terminated the military agreement with the United States, which allowed American military personnel to remain in the country. Niger's Interior Minister Mohamed Toumba said the country is interested in the Russian military training its troops. On May 3, Reuters, citing a Pentagon representative, reported that Russian military personnel entered the air base in Niamey. On the same day, a source in the security forces of the African state clarified that the US military had declared increased combat readiness due to the deployment of Russian troops in Niger. Later, the head of the Pentagon said that the United States was closely monitoring the situation with the presence of Russian military personnel at the air base in Niger. According to him, the Russian military is located in a separate complex. He added that he does not yet see this as a significant problem in terms of protecting American forces. The United States tried to the last to maintain a military presence in Niger, and the authorities in Niamey had to begin deploying the Russian contingent before the Pentagon removed its personnel. At the same time, with the departure of the Americans, it is likely that Niger’s military cooperation with Russia will further deepen. Ivan Loshkarev, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Political Elites at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO, shared this opinion with a Regnum correspondent. Related: Niger : 2024-05-07 Tele Sahel: Russia delivered military equipment and humanitarian aid to Niger Niger : 2024-05-05 Doing the Jobs Americans Won't - Wagner Group Pursuing Joseph Kony Niger : 2024-05-04 Russian troops appear near a US base in Niger Posted by: badanov 2024-05-09 |
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