In the latest setback to over ten years of French counterterrorism efforts in the Sahel region of west Africa, the last French troops left Niger on Friday.
Only hundreds of US military forces and a few Italian and German troops remain in the nation following the French withdrawal.
Following a coup on July 26, the newly installed generals in Niger asked that the approximately 1,500 soldiers and airmen there leave. As a result, France made the announcement that it would withdraw its forces from the country.
It was the third time in less than 18 months that French forces have been withdrawn from a country in the Sahel after military takeovers in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
The Islamist insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012 and extended to all three countries is being combated, but since a series of coups in the area, their relations with France have deteriorated dramatically.
According to an AFP journalist, the final French soldiers departed from two aircraft at an airbase in the capital, Niamey. It was unclear where they were going.
“Today’s date… marks the end of the disengagement process of French forces in the Sahel,” said Niger army lieutenant Salim Ibrahim.
Though they are no longer present in the three primary countries fighting the jihadists, about 1,000 French troops are still stationed in neighboring Chad, where France has based its anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel.
Ibrahim stated that a total of 145 aircraft and 15 ground convoys were part in the October-beginning evacuation from Niger.
Buildings had been left in their original locations, but no equipment had been abandoned, the French military informed AFP.
Perilous Desert Routes
The departure of all French troops from Niger by the end of the year was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in September.
The air base at Niamey was home to the majority of the French troops stationed in Niger.
Smaller squads were sent with Nigerien soldiers to the border regions of Mali and Burkina Faso, where there is suspected activity by jihadist groups associated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Road convoys had to travel up to 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles) on occasionally treacherous desert routes to reach Chad, making the pullout an intricate operation.
After ten days on the road, the first French road convoy of troops leaving Niger arrived in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, in October.
The most critical equipment that French forces have can be flown out of Chad, but the majority will need to be transported by road and sea.
A person with knowledge of the situation claims that some of the French equipment containers were to be driven from Chad to the port of Douala in Cameroon and then transported by sea back to France.
US, German troops
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in September banded together in a joint defence pact to fight jihadists.
France’s former ally in Niger, overthrown president Mohamed Bazoum, remains under house arrest.
In October, a US official stated that although Washington was no longer actively training or supporting Niger soldiers, it was still maintaining roughly 1,000 military personnel in the country.
Earlier this month, the US stated that it was prepared to start working with Niger again, provided that the country’s military government agreed to swiftly hand over power to civilians.
The leaders of Niger demand a three-year transition period before returning to civilian authority.
Early this month, military authorities in Niamey announced the termination of two European Union security and defense missions in the nation.
Earlier this week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius traveled to Niger to talk about what would happen to the about 120 German soldiers that were stationed there.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to Italian troops in Niger.
But an Italian diplomat has said France’s departure presents its European partners with a dilemma.
“We have a responsibility not to leave because the void would immediately be filled by the Russians,” the diplomat said.
France’s withdrawal from Mali last year left a bitter aftertaste, after the bases it once occupied in Menaka, Gossi and Timbuktu were rapidly taken over by Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group.