Democracy Dies in Darkness

U.S. agrees to withdraw American troops from Niger

A top State Department official accepted the West African nation’s demand that American forces leave, a move the Biden administration had resisted

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April 19, 2024 at 8:57 p.m. EDT
Nigeriens participate in a demonstration in the capital, Niamey, on April 13 to demand the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel. (Mahamadou Hamidou/Reuters)
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NAPLES, Italy — The United States informed the government of Niger on Friday that it agreed to its request to withdraw U.S. troops from the West African country, said three U.S. officials, a move the Biden administration had resisted and one that will transform Washington’s counterterrorism posture in the region.

The agreement will spell the end of a U.S. troop presence that totaled more than 1,000 and throw into question the status of a $110 million U.S. air base that is only six years old. It is the culmination of a military coup last year that ousted the country’s democratically elected government and installed a junta that declared America’s military presence there “illegal.”