WASHINGTON
\nThe United States is moving some of its troops from a base in Niger\u2019s capital Niamey where rebel officers seized power in a July coup to another in the Agadez area, the Pentagon said.
\nWashington has some 1,100 military personnel in the country, but the Defense Department says they have largely remained on bases while curtailing activities such as joint training after the military takeover in Niger.
\nThe United States \u201cis repositioning some of our personnel and some of our assets from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez,\u201d Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no immediate threat to US personnel or violence on the ground,\u201d she said, describing the move as a \u201cprecautionary measure.\u201d
\nA \u201csmall group\u201d of personnel will remain at Air Base 101 following the move, which is currently ongoing, Singh said.
\nShe also said \u201csome non-essential personnel and contractors\u201d had previously departed the country.
\nNiger has been a key base for both American and French anti-jihadist operations, and the repositioning of US troops comes after a French defense ministry source said Paris was holding holds talks with Niger on withdrawing \u201celements\u201d of its presence there.
\nThere have been days of rallies calling for Niger\u2019s former colonial ruler to remove its forces, and military-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine said earlier this week that \u201ccontacts\u201d were under way about a \u201cvery swift\u201d departure for Paris\u2019 troops.
\nBut Singh said there is \u201cno tie\u201d between the US move and \u201cwhat the French military is doing right now.\u201d Niger\u2019s President Mohamed Bazoum was toppled on July 26 by some members of his guard and was detained along with his family.
\nThe West African bloc ECOWAS has taken a hard line on Niger following a cascade of coups in the region, threatening to use force to restore civilian rule.
\nTroops took power in Mali and Burkina Faso, where like Niger, losses among the armed forces are surging in the face of a long-running jihadist insurgency.
\nA putsch also took place in Guinea in 2021 after the country\u2019s octogenarian president, Alpha Conde, ran for a third term in office, a move that opponents said breached constitutional limits.
\nEchoing past US comments, Singh expressed hope for a negotiated solution to the situation in Niger.
\n\u201cWe are hopeful that diplomatic talks will continue and that the situation in Niger will be resolved diplomatically,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The United States is moving some of its troops from a base in Niger\u2019s capital Niamey where rebel officers seized power in a July coup to another in the Agadez area, the Pentagon said. Washington has some 1,100 military personnel in the country, but the Defense Department says they have largely remained on bases […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-354710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n