Niger

[…] The CNSP [National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland] noted that the meeting comes two months after Niger denounced its military basing agreements with the United States and aims to “ensure that this withdrawal takes place in the best possible conditions, guaranteeing order, security and compliance with set deadlines.”

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces.

The United States will send a delegation to Niger on Thursday to begin face-to-face talks with officials in Niamey on withdrawing the more than 1,000 American personnel in the military-ruled country.

Russian military instructors have arrived in Niger with an air defense system and other equipment as part of the West African nation's deepening security ties with Moscow. … On Friday, African Corps – seen as the successor of Russia's Wagner mercenary group in Africa – confirmed it had arrived in Niger.

The cancellation of the American pact could mean the closure of US Air Base 201, a $110m facility built in the north of the country in 2018 to conduct drone surveillance of the Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated groups in the Sahel.

Over the weekend, Niger’s military junta hammered the final nail into the West’s tattered mess of a Sahel strategy. The junta revoked a military cooperation deal with the United States, stating that the presence of 1,000 American personnel on its soil violated Nigerien sovereignty.

The United States is not ruling out a continued military presence in Niger, despite a statement by the country’s ruling military junta that it was ending an agreement allowing for the presence of American forces engaged in counterterrorism missions.

A senior U.S. delegation visited Niger on Tuesday to meet with the ruling junta, the nation’s state TV said, renewing contact after the coup leaders ousted the elected president and moved closer to Russia.

Three West African countries run by military juntas say they will form a joint force to fight jihadist threats. Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced the formation of the force following talks in the Nigerien capital Niamey. Niger's army chief Moussa Salaou Barmou announced it would be operational as soon as possible, without giving details of its size.

A no-fly zone and border closures were among the sanctions being lifted “with immediate effect”, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, said on Saturday.