Russian military personnel enter Niger airbase where some U.S. troops remain

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Russian military personnel enter ****** airbase where some U.S. troops remain

5/2: CBS Morning News

20:14

Russian military personnel entered an airbase in ****** where some U.S. troops are located, two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News.

Russians have been in ****** for several weeks as the U.S. negotiates the withdrawal of its troops from two airbases in ******, one of the officials said. Described by a second official as “trainers,” said the Russians are located around two miles from where a small number of U.S. troops are based at Niamey’s international airport. Most of the roughly 1,000 U.S. troops still in ****** are at a second airbase about 500 miles away from the capital, in the city of Agadez.

Before a coup in ****** in July 2023 led to the demand that ********* troops leave the country, the U.S. used the two bases to fly drones on counterterrorism missions in the Sahel region of *******. 

Protesters gather as a man holds up a sign demanding that U.S. Army soldiers leave ****** during a demonstration in Niamey, on April 13, 2024. 

AFP via Getty Images

The Russian presence on the base comes as tensions remain high between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine’s military.

A few months after the coup, the ruling junta asked French forces to leave and turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for security assistance.

In October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered U.S. laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to ******. Since then, diplomatic efforts to restore ties with ****** have been unsuccessful.

Until recently, Washington considered ****** a key partner and ally in a region swept by coups in recent years, investing millions of dollars in the Agadez base, which has been critical to U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. The U.S. also has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training ******’s military since it began operations there in 2013.

The Pentagon also has said the U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 troops it has deployed in neighboring Chad for now. Chad is also considering whether to continue its security agreement with the U.S.

Reporting contributed by Eleanor Watson

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