Many protestors have taken to the streets to demand the departure of United States troops after ending s military accord with the US to welcome Russian’s military.
The protestors marched through the streets of Niamey, waving Nigerien flags in demonstration. Last year, a similar wave of protests happened as Nigeriens motioned for a withdrawal of France’s forces from their country.
Protestors rallied in support for the military government to revoke an accord that has allowed about a thousand US troops to operate on its territory.
“Down with the American imperialism” and “The people’s liberation is on the march” were the popular chants heard by protestors in their rally through the capital.
In time past, Niger remained a security partner of the US and France, using the West African country as its base to curb a decade-old rebellion in Africa’s Sahel region. The US military operates an airbase in Niger, Agadez using the region for both manned and unmanned surveillance flights. In addition, a drone base called Air Base 201 was built near Agadez which cost over $100m. The base had been used to target ISIS And Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen groups since 2018.
Following the coup that overthrew the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July, France withdrew its troops from the country.
The military run government joined countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso in a bid to end military deals with Western allies, withdrawing from the ECOWAS bloc and fostering ties with Russia. Russian military arrived in Niger on Wednesday with equipments as proof of Niger’s openness to cooperate with the Russia.
“We must not subsequently see the implementation of Russian foreign military bases”, said Abdoulaye Seydou, coodinator of the M62 coalition of civil society groups.
It is not clear when US troops will leave the West African country.
Source: www.aljazeera.com
