On Saturday, thousands of people in Niger’s capital protested for the immediate departure of US soldiers from the north after the military junta in Niamey said it was withdrawing from a military agreement with Washington.
The West African nation claimed in mid-March that the 2012 cooperation pact had been “unilaterally imposed” by the US after a coup in July.
Niger Wants US to Disengage Troops
Jerrymusa.com reports that there were several notable members of the military dictatorship mingling with the audience in front of the National Assembly Headquarters in Niamey, including students.
“Down with American imperialism” and “The people’s liberation is on the march” were chanted by the audience.
After the French were forced out at the end of 2023, over 1,000 American forces are still stationed in the northern city of Agadez.
Niger said at the end of March that the US would present a plan to “disengage” its troops from the nation. Washington claimed to have contacted Niger in order to “obtain clarification,” but it declined to comment.
Celebrity religious leader Sheikh Ahmadou Mamoudou said, “Let them go in peace and quickly. They said they (the Americans) were going to leave.”
There were flags flying from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Russia, but protest organisers begged that participants not insult the United States or set fire to its flags.
Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, its neighbours, formed a combined force in March to combat the protracted jihadist uprisings sweeping through the three countries.
The three nations have tightened their connections with Russia while rejecting the old coloniser, France.