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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 17th. the us military announced on the 16th that the us military has fully completed its withdrawal from the western african country of niger before the deadline.

the u.s. africa command said in a statement that the united states and niger jointly announced that "u.s. troops and their assets have been withdrawn from niger." sabrina singh, a spokeswoman for the u.s. department of defense, said a small number of u.s. military personnel remain in the area to guard the u.s. embassy.

on july 26, 2023, some soldiers of the niger presidential guard detained the then president mohamed bazoum and announced the establishment of the national committee for the defense of the fatherland to take over state power and establish a transitional government. in march this year, the transitional government announced that it would terminate the military cooperation agreement "imposed" on niger by the united states.

after negotiations, the two sides issued a joint communiqué on may 19, announcing that the u.s. military would withdraw completely by september 15 this year at the latest. since then, the u.s. military has withdrawn from two bases in niger in early july and early august. singh said that after the u.s. military withdrew in august, about 20 soldiers remained in niger, mainly engaged in administrative work related to the withdrawal.

the united states began stationing troops in niger in 2013, ostensibly to combat extremist groups in the sahel region south of the sahara desert in africa.

niger's transitional government has sought to strengthen security cooperation with russia. a russian military expert group and equipment arrived in niger in april. (hu haodong)