Announced ten days ago by Emmanuel Macron, the withdrawal of French troops deployed in Niger will begin “this week”, AFP learned this Thursday, October 5 from the army general staff. This decision follows the coup d’état perpetrated by the Nigerien junta on July 26, aimed at overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum.
“We will launch the disengagement operation within the week, in good order, in security and in coordination with the Nigeriens,” indicated the general staff, at the end of a standoff of more than two months with the military regime resulting from the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum.
France was “not in the logic of leaving Niger”
Yet just yesterday, the Minister of the Interior and Brigadier General, Mohamed Toumba, appointed by the junta, declared that France was “not in the logic of leaving Niger”.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on September 24 the end of military cooperation with Niger and the gradual departure of the 1,400 French soldiers present in the Sahel country, “by the end of the year”, thus complying with the will of the new authorities who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who denounced the defense agreements linking Niamey to Paris.
“We will do what is planned, it will take place in accordance with the planning”, assures the French general staff, while the military regime has accused France of not being “in a logic of leaving Niger” and seems little inclined to let departing soldiers maneuver freely.
Some 1,000 French soldiers and airmen are deployed at the French air base in Niamey and 400 in Ouallam and Ayorou (north-west), alongside the Nigeriens, in the so-called “three borders” zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, sanctuary of the Islamic State group. Soldiers deployed on forward bases should be the first to disengage. A pattern similar to that of Mali, where the French withdrawal began with the three northernmost holds of the country.
“We are taking steps to ensure the safety of the people engaged in the maneuver,” said the general staff, in particular on the road which connects the advanced bases to the capital, which could require air support, against a backdrop of security deterioration in the country after several attacks leaving dozens dead.
Complex logistics operation
The operation promises to be complex: Niger has served since 2013 as a transit platform for anti-terrorist operations carried out in Mali, before becoming the heart of the French system in the region after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali and Burkina Faso, since summer 2022.
For the military, this withdrawal demanded by the junta puts an end to an uncertain situation for two months, with random supplies and anti-French demonstrations regularly organized in front of their doors in Niamey. In Niamey, the French compound, located within Nigerien territory, hosts hundreds of prefabricated offices, hangars and modular shelters for aircraft, tents on the life base, pilot cabins for drones, engineering bulldozers…
After the conclusion of a combat partnership at the request of Niger, France had strengthened its presence in the capital with armored vehicles and helicopters, which came to reinforce the five Reaper drones and at least three fighter planes. The destinations of the equipment have not yet been decided and several options are being discussed: the national territory as a priority, neighboring Chad which hosts the headquarters of the French forces in the Sahel, or other theaters.
Land route via Benin
The soldiers have no other choice than to use the land route, either through Benin – an option refused by the Nigerien military regime – or towards Chad, which would then involve transporting the containers returning to France to the port of Douala, Cameroon, according to a source close to the matter.
The option of an airlift seems compromised for the moment because until further notice, the Nigeriens prohibit French planes from flying over their territory. In Mali, the disengagement mobilized 400 logisticians sent as reinforcements. For the dismantling of Gao, the largest French influence in the country, 6,000 containers were needed.
Paris, which does not recognize the new authorities, has limited the issuance of visas for Nigeriens and ended its cooperation in the country, one of the poorest in the world. Niger benefited from 120 million euros in public development aid from France in 2022 and is currently subject to sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ) since the end of July.