Niger’s announcement that it will suspend its military cooperation with the United States is reverberating throughout the region, making observers fear the security situation in the Sahel will deteriorate.
Col.Major Amadou Abdirahman, spokesman for the Nigerian National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP), made the announcement on national television on March 16. This step came after a meeting with an American delegation that included General Michael Langley, Commander of the US Africa Command, and Molly, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. According to a statement issued by Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, the United States and Niger continue diplomatic discussions to clarify the future of the US-Niger security partnership.
The United States has about 1,000 military and civilian personnel in the country to support operations at the 101st Air Base in Niamey and the 201st Air Base near Agadez. Niger has been a bastion of counterterrorism in the region for more than a decade. In 2013, the two countries signed a status of forces agreement to enhance military cooperation, allowing the US to station manned and unmanned aircraft in the country, mainly to monitor extremists. .
The United States invested $110 million to build Air Base 201 near Agadez, and spends about $30 million annually to maintain the airport and its 1,890-meter runway. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights from the base began in 2019 and have provided vital information to Sahel countries against entrenched terrorist groups operating in the tri-border region.
The United States donated three C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to transport troops and equipment across Niger’s vast territory, and provided assistance for other projects, including $20 million to support the settlement, demobilization and reintegration of veterans. As of early 2023, Niger was the largest recipient of US State Department military assistance in West Africa.
It seems that the efforts have paid off. In 2022, Niger reversed the regional trend and saw an 80% reduction in terrorism-related deaths. During the same period, Mali and Burkina Faso suffered an increase in attacks. “Niger presents itself as an oasis of stability in this turbulent region and a trustworthy partner,” Al Jazeera reported in 2022.
The two countries have cooperated in many bilateral and multilateral training events. Niger hosted Flintlock, an annual African-led special forces exercise, in 2014 and 2018 and hosted part of the exercise in 2017. During these exercises and throughout the year, the two countries cooperate in civil-military engagement programs, often in communities near air bases, providing free medical treatment and veterinary medicine as well as other supports to civilians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States provided two mobile field hospitals worth $1.6 million to treat patients in the Tillaberi and Agadez regions. Observers fear that ending the partnership will lead to long-term problems.
“I think this makes Niger, as well as Burkina Faso and Mali, very vulnerable,” Alexis Akwagyiram, editor-in-chief of Semaphore, told Al Jazeera. He added: “When you expel all these Western forces, you can see an effort to make up the numbers by signing a security treaty with each other and heading to Russia, but I don’t think that will make up for the deficit. Not in numbers, and certainly not in terms of ability. »
Perhaps most important is the loss of aerial surveillance capabilities by terrorist groups across the Sahel. “This is a massive capacity that is being removed, not replaced, which means the security situation will deteriorate over time,” Akwagyiram said. Concerns are also growing about Russia’s involvement in Niger. The Russian mercenary group Wagner, now known as the African Legion, was deployed in Burkina Faso and Mali. Despite pledges to help combat terrorism, extremist violence has increased in both countries, and mercenaries have been accused of committing atrocities against women, children and ethnic minorities. Observers say the Russian presence in both countries has been a boon for terrorist recruitment. “While Wagner is being employed by a number of countries to confront and weaken jihadist groups in the Sahel, his growing presence – and reputation for brutality – is having the opposite effect.” Intelligence. Security advice, in an article in the New York Times. “Terrorist organizations have exploited the growing anger over Wagner’s scorched earth tactics to recruit new members, offering them protection and opportunities for revenge.”
Security experts believe that extremist groups are closely monitoring developments in Niger and are ready to take advantage of the security vacuum. “If US-Niger ties are permanently severed, surveillance and intelligence gathering operations will be seriously affected,” Dr. Olayinka Ajala, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Leeds Beckett University, wrote in an article for The Conversation. “Terrorist groups can exploit the situation and become bolder.
