U.S. Reaches a Deal to Resume Military Operations in Niger

The United States (U.S.) military has resumed operations in Niger, flying drones and other aircraft out of airbases in the country more than a month after a coup halted activities.

The head of air forces in Europe and air forces Africa General James Hecker said on Wednesday that negotiations with the military rulers of Niger resulted in some intelligence and surveillance missions resuming.

Since the July coup that removed President Mohamed Bazoum, the approximately 1,100 us soldiers deployed in the West African country have been confined to their military bases.

Hecker told reporters at the annual air and space forces association convention that the U.S. is flying both crewed and unmanned missions and that those flights resumed “within the last couple of weeks”.

The pentagon said last week that some U.S. forces were moved from air base 101 near the capital Niamey, to another base, airport 201, in Agadez about 920 kilometers, northeast of Niamey.

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Since the coup, current and former U.S. officials have stressed that there might still be some hope the U.S. could reach an agreement to resume counterterrorism efforts.

“If Western operations are significantly impacted by this, it’s going to be bad for the Nigerien people,” retired Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who led U.S. Africa Command from 2019-2022, previously told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It’s going to be bad for the region. It’s going to be bad for Europe before it’s bad for America, but it’s going to be bad for everybody.”

Led by the State Department, the U.S. was able to calm tensions and regain its ability to use the country as a vital drone base, Hecker said.

“They were able to turn that around fairly quickly where we didn’t have to totally evacuate everything out there,” Hecker said of the State Department’s efforts.

The U.S. did move personnel from Air Base 101 near the capital of Niamey to Air Base 201 over 500 miles away in the city of Agadez on the edge of the Sahara desert. “But we did take some things and personnel, and we moved them to 201, which is a base which isn’t under as much pressure, if you will. And we hope that that’s going to be maybe a temporary thing, and things will calm down as they appear to be,” Hecker said.