By Emmanuel Nduka
Niger has suspended diplomatic and military relations with the United States.
The development is a blow to US security interests in the region.
As contained in a statement on state television on Saturday, a spokesman for Niger’s junta said the US military presence in the country is no longer justified.
The announcement followed high-level talks with US diplomatic and military officials this week.
Heritage Times HT reports that Niger plays a central role in the US military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region and is home to a major airbase.
Thus, the US is concerned about the spread of jihadist violence in the region, where local groups have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremist groups.
While reading the statement, the junta’s spokesman, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, stopped short of saying US forces should leave. He said Niger was suspending military cooperation with Washington and added that US flights over the country’s territory in recent weeks were illegal.
The US military in recent years began operating a major airbase in the Niger city of Agadez, some 920 kilometers (550 miles) from the capital of Niamey, using it for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations.
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America has also invested for years hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military. Some of those forces were involved in the July overthrow of Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohammed Bazoum.
Last October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered US laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger. But later in December, top US envoy for Africa, Molly Phee, said the US was willing to restore aid and security ties if Niger met certain conditions.
Niger’s junta spokesman said the US tone was condescending and threatened Niger’s sovereignty. Since the July coup, the country has ended its security partnership with the European Union and France has withdrawn its troops from the country.
Last week, Phee and Marine Gen. Michael Langley, head of the US military’s African Command, were in Niamey to meet with senior Niger government officials.
The US military had some 650 personnel working in Niger in December, according to a White House report to Congress.
