By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. military is set to complete the withdrawal on Sunday of its personnel from Niger’s Air Base 101 in the nation’s capital and then shift its focus to exiting a major drone base in the coming weeks, a U.S. general said on Friday.
Niger’s ruling junta in April ordered the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, in an embarrassing setback for Washington that followed a coup last year.
Before the coup, Niger had been a key partner in the U.S. fight against insurgents in the Sahel region of Africa, who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. Washington is searching for a Plan B in West Africa but officials caution that U.S. intelligence on fast-growing extremist groups in the region is dimming.
Air Force Major General Kenneth Ekman, who is on the ground in Niger to coordinate the departure, said the U.S. exit from Air Base 101 will be finalized with a ceremony. The base is located next to Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital Niamey.
“We will do a joint ceremony on that occasion that marks the departure of the last U.S. C-17 (aircraft). The government of Niger will assume control of former U.S. areas and facilities,” Ekman said, speaking by video conference.
As the U.S. exits, Russia has deployed a number of military forces to the same base, where they are carrying out training activities.
U.S. officials say there has been no contact between U.S. and Russian personnel there and Ekman stressed he has received assurances from Niger the forces will be kept separate.
“When I last talked to a Nigerian interlocutor, he quantified the presence of Russian forces as under 100. And he also talked about when the Russians are done training them, they have told the Russians that they have to go home,” Ekman said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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