US military pullout from Niger to be completed in August – Gen Ekman

A General in the United States Army, Kenneth Ekman, on Wednesday, said American troops will be completely pulled out from Niger in August.

Ekman, who heads the US Africa Command Africom, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Abidjan.

According to the US general: “The withdrawal is going well.

“It is ahead of schedule and this is because of the excellent coordination that we have had with our Nigerien military counterparts.

“I expect that we will be complete with the withdrawal by early August, well ahead of the 15 September mutually agreed deadline.

“The consequences for regional security are very concerning.

“I’ve been here speaking to your military and government leaders — we share the same concerns about the violent extremist threat that is growing and increasingly threatening the countries around the Sahel,” he said.

The US started pulling out its troops from Niger in July but another 200 US soldiers remain at the Agadez drone base in the north of the country.

US troops were part of an international effort to suppress jihadist forces that regularly strike across the region.

But the Niger military leaders who seized power in a coup a year ago in March told US and French forces to quit the country.