President Emmanuel Macron of France said Thursday, that his country’s troops stationed in Niger Republic will begin withdrawing “this week”. This is coming after a falling-out with the military junta in power since a July coup.
“We will begin our disengagement operation this week, in good order, safely and in coordination with the Nigeriens,” the military headquarters said, a week after France’s ambassador to Niamey returned home under pressure from the regime.
The announcement comes a week after France’s ambassador to Niamey returned home under pressure from the regime.
Macron had announced on September 24 the withdrawal of 1,400 French troops “by the end of the year”.
Fighting militants
Paris’ soldiers were in Niger as part of a wider fight against militants across the Sahel region.
Some 400 are deployed alongside local troops in northwestern Niger, near its borders with Burkina Faso and Mali.
The “three borders” zone is known as a haven for the Islamic State group.
Soldiers withdrawing from the area would need cover to leave their exposed forward positions, the military headquarters said, possibly including air support from the larger force at an airbase outside the capital Niamey.
Anti-French demos
The troops have been living with uncertainty since the junta began demanding their departure, with irregular supplies of food and repeated anti-French demonstrations outside the Niamey base.
France had reinforced its presence in Niger after another coup-born military regime in Mali demanded its forces’ departure, adding armoured vehicles and helicopters to the drones and fighter jets already deployed.
Its troops will now have to withdraw either via Benin to the south — at odds with the junta in Niamey — or Chad to the east, site of France’s headquarters for the Sahel theatre.
For now, Niamey forbids French flights over its territory.
Niger’s military leaders last month demanded a “negotiated framework” for the withdrawal of the French troop, which Paris says will be completed by the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of people have joined demonstrations and gatherings in the Niger capital Niamey in recent weeks calling for the withdrawal of French troops from the country.
TRT Africa
